Raiding the larder of ideas.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Christmas made easy
Dinner, yesterday, was a great big beef sirloin roast, a loaf of Challah, steamed sweet corn, five-cup salad (brought by the matriarch of the Volunteers, who also brought dessert: pumpkin pie and a giant Sam's Club apple pie, for which we provided the whipped cream), and twice-baked potatoes.
The potatoes raised eyebrows and smiles. Our logic in serving them was simple: if you make them ahead of time, all you have to do is bake them. You don't need to make any gravy, no fussing over last-minute details. Simply bake, assemble, and re-bake right before you want to serve them.
The funny thing is, every time the Bat & I make these things, we get remarks like, "Mine never taste as good. They always come out kind of boring." And we think we may have discovered the biggest problem for most people. It's always about ingredients.
If you make anything in which cheese is a major ingredient (breads, chicken pot pie, or twice baked potatoes), ALWAYS use sharp or extra sharp cheeses. Delicate flavors disappear when you bake them into things, unless you pile on extra, at which time the original recipe's texture suffers.
We prefer Tillamook's extra-sharp cheddar, and you can stay with that, or you can use the flavor you most like, whether it be blue, Swiss, or some exotic variety. It's fine to experiment, as long as it's a cheese of strong character.
But here's our base recipe, with which we play (and, if you don't need quite so much potato for your meal, these babies can be individually wrapped and frozen):
Twice-Baked Potatoes
Ingredients:
Six large russet potatoes
butter to coat
8 Tablespoons butter (one stick), divided
2 cups plain, unsweetened Greek-style yogurt
2 cups freshly-grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup ranch-style dressing
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400º F. Scrub and dry potatoes, cut off any blemishes, plus trim off one end. Pierce each potato repeatedly with fork or narrow knife. Coat with butter. Place directly on rack in the oven, bake approximately one hour, or until tender, turning once.
Remove from oven.
While they are still hot, cut potatoes in half and scoop as much of the "meat" of the potato into a large mixing bowl, being sure to leave a little to help the skin retain a bowl shape. Set the potato-skin boats on a cookie sheet or jelly-roll pan. Add half stick (4 Tablespoons) butter, all the yogurt, 1 cup cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan, and ranch dressing. Mix completely, until cheese is all melted in.
By tablespoons, return filling to potato skin shells, in moderately-heaping proportions (if you are feeling fancy, you can use a press for fancy textured tops, but I like the rustic look). Allow to cool in refrigerator a few hours, or overnight.
Before re-baking:
Preheat oven to at least 325º F (we just bake them alongside whatever meat we're roasting).
Melt 1/2 stick butter in small pan or microwave-safe dish. By teaspoon, drizzle over the top of each potato boat, especially making sure any of the "meat" which had been remaining to shape the boat gets a touch of it. Don't worry if some dribbles over the edge of the boat, because it will help keep the skin crispy. Top with remaining mix of cheeses (if you like, you may add other cheese varieties, here). Place in oven at least 20 minutes, until the potatoes are hot and cheese topping begins to bubble.
Serve hot. (Makes 12)
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Cranberry Upside-Down Molasses Cake
*We do NOT recommend navel oranges for this recipe. While they may be easier to peel, and conveniently seedless, they are less juicy and flavorful. If you can, use a juicing orange such as a Valencia or Texas sweet.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Variation on a theme: Lasagna
Monday, October 08, 2012
Moo's Potato & Eggplant Curry Thingy
She's become more fiscally sound, since then, and also become more protein-focused, but I've kept the one recipe from those hard times that actually made me feel that being broke and meatless wasn't quite a fate worse than death.
The first time my seester fixed this for us, it was in her apartment in Philadelphia, on one of those trips to visit I could barely afford to take, and she could barely afford to host me, but… well… she's my seester. Just sitting around and talking with her is an awesome way to spend a week. Food is a bonus.
So, there we were, in her tiny kitchen, with her wok and her cutting board on her tiny drop-leaf table from Ikea, going all teamwork-y on this sumptuous feast of curry on rice. I can still see the steam on her glasses as she checked the taters' tenderness…
Now, it's your turn to steam up your own glasses, or smoke your tastebuds, or whatever.
Moo's Potato & Eggplant Curry Thingy
Ingredients:
5 large potatoes (about 2 1/2 lbs), peeled & cubed about 1/2" to 1"
2 medium eggplants (about 2 lbs total)
plenty of table salt
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp each: ground ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds,
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each: cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and coriander
2 cloves fresh garlic, pressed or crushed
2 1/2 c. water
2/3 c. cooked or fresh peas (if frozen, thaw under hot water until just above room temp)
2 medium sweet bell peppers, cut into 1/2 inch squares
1 c. plain yogurt (I use Greek style)
4-6 cups cooked rice
Directions:
Peel eggplant, slice into 1/2 inch thicknesses. Salt both sides of each slice, let stand on rack or paper towels about 1/2 hour. Using fresh paper towels, press out liquids. Cut into cubes.
Peel & cut potatoes.
Melt butter in wok or large frying pan at medium-high heat. Add black mustard seed. When they have mostly popped, add other spices and garlic. Brown slightly, then add potatoes, mixing thoroughly to cover the potatoes with spice mixture. Let potatoes brown, then stir in eggplant.
Add water, allow to simmer uncovered 20-25 minutes stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender.
While that is cooking, clean & cut peppers.
Remove wok from heat.
Add peppers and peas, allow to warm up. Add yogurt to taste (you may instead decide to have individuals add this as it is served). Serve on rice.
Feeds 4-6.
Update, 13 January, 2013: in a fit of cabin fever, I decided to make this no matter what ingredients I had in the house. I lacked cumin seeds and cayenne pepper, so I adjusted to approximately 3/4 tsp, ground cumin, added saffron instead of turmeric, and minced five small serrano peppers (about 2 Tbs) instead of using the cayenne. The bell peppers I had were sweet red peppers, so, again, I made do. It came out very nicely, if I do say so, myself. The red peppers perked up the look tremendously, and the whole dish seemed just a little fresher than the last time I'd fixed it.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Extra-Special Chocolate Chip Cookies
So, my mother made these cookies. Or, rather, she made the dough and some cookies. We lived dangerously, back then, and nobody died from raw dough in the digestive tract. If, on the other hand, you worry about that sort of thing, feel free to make a substitution of pasteurized liquid egg white where the recipe calls for eggs. Or, live life for the moment.
Either way, bake yourself a batch of the best chocolate chip cookies I ever had. In theory, the recipe makes 5 dozen MONSTER cookies. In our reckless house, I've never seen the dough left alone long enough to get the whole thing into the oven, but maybe you'll have some luck with that.
Extra-Special Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups shortening* (do NOT use cooking oil)
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups granulated sugar
6 large or jumbo eggs
2 Tablespoons vanilla
2 teaspoons salt
7 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or Heath Bits O'Brickle
3 cups coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375º F.
With mixer, cream shortening and sugar until very fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly. Add vanilla and salt.
In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and soda. Add to creamed mixture and stir until completely mixed.
Add in chips and nuts.
Drop by heaping TABLESPOONS onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 12-15 minutes, or until beginning to turn golden-brown on top.
[This dough may be formed into balls or tubes and frozen for up to five months.]
*Mom uses butter, & leaves them slightly undercooked by setting the oven at 350º F, to make soft, gooey, extra-tasty cookies.
Saturday, September 01, 2012
Sailing into the next birthday cake
My young friend turned ten years old, this month. This put me at that awkward stage, where I had to choose between making a cake that is strictly for show, or one that has exceptional flavors to reflect the exceptional nature of the young lady in question. As it stands, I was tasked with preparing the cake for a party with her schoolmates, as well as a second one for just us extended family-types. Therefore, I made both types.
This, however, is the tale of the building of a visual work (oh, I won't make it bland to the tongue, either. Let's get serious, shall we?), and how you, too can do the same, if you are foolish enough to go this crazy.
So, the first stage is actually to make a white or yellow cake into a lemonade cake. If you have a favorite recipe, please use your own. For me, I cheat and start with an affordable mix into which I add a half-cup of Greek-style yogurt, the juice of one medium lemon plus the finely-grated rind of that same lemon (using that much less water for the mix. It usually adds up to about 1/4 cup difference). I also have a 6-oz can of frozen lemonade mix (thawed), plus 2/3 cup of powdered sugar. Bake the cake in 1 9-inch square cake pan left in oven at a slight angle (so the cake will come out slightly thicker at one end), plus a standard 8x4-inch loaf pan, using the baking instructions for your recipe or mix. Remove from oven, let it cool, remove from the pan & place on large platter or plastic-lined cookie sheet. Take a long-tined fork & pierce the cake every half-inch or so (you will likely need to wipe the fork occasionally with wet cloth to de-stickify it). When you've covered the cake with holes, mix the thawed lemonade with the powdered sugar & slowly pour the mixture over the entire cake, allowing the cake to absorb it all. What spills over onto the plastic, feel free to scoop up with a spoon and drizzle once more over the top of the cake.
Now, pop that in the freezer until you're ready for the next stage.
(click on any image to embiggen)
Stage two involves cutting and crumb-coating the cake.
For this, you will need a nice, long, non-serrated knife (at least 10-inch blade is ideal).
Beginning with the loaf cake (and while still frozen), measure halfway up each side, mark it, and then, at one end, cut the diagonal from center mark to center mark to make an uneven pentagon (imagine you're cutting a kid's-style house). Take the triangles you've cut off, reverse them, and let them snuggle up against the lower half-walls, turning it into a big triangle. Shave off a little from the sides to create a slight curve, for the prow of the ship.
On the square cake, put the thicker side near the big triangle. Slice off about 2 inches from the shallow end, lay the cut-off section on top of the thicker portion of the cake, and shave to create a curve across the top of the cake. This is the book-end. All these parts must now be stuck together with frosting (I used a plain white store-bought tub to which I added plenty of lemon extract to my preference, because I know the girls who will be eating this cake like zippy lemony zing, too).
Send it back into the freezer to firm up a few hours, or until you are ready for stage three.
Stage three: finish frosting the cake. The ship end needs brown frosting colors, to make the wooden ship boards. The book end, of course, will need no color added to the white frosting, but you may want to pipe some color around the base, to represent the book cover.
Stage four is preliminary decorations. The ship's figurehead and rails can be shaped from fondant (don't forget to add a little lemon extract to that, too!) (I also added some ballusters to the rails by rolling little balls attaching them with drops of water ever couple of inches along the rails).
If you lack the appropriate color of fondant, you can add gel food coloring to it. Professionals usually have gloves for the kneading process, but I find as long as the quantities you need are about the size of a large candy bar, you can put it in a sturdy sandwich bag to work the color in.
Next, you'll want a sheet of edible paper, cut in half crosswise (available anywhere Wilton's cake supplies are sold) of a simple, small pattern such as stripes or stars. One half will be used for the top page of the book,
and the other for the sail.
If you want more detail, use a toothpick or thin skewer for detailing ship's boards and sides of book, delicately drawing frosting color in lines to give wood grain and to imply many pages.
You will want to allow this to rest on a sturdy cardboard sheet cut to its precise dimensions, plus enough on the "book" end for gripping, coated with foil or plastic.
Stage Five will require these ingredients:
Line a large jelly-roll pan (a cookie sheet with upright sides) with foil which is then lightly greased. Make first batch of gelatin according to instructions for "knox blox" or Jell-O Jigglers, using four boxes Jell-O, and two cups boiling water. Pour the gelatin mixture into the pan, arrange the fish & stars upside-down on top. Try to avoid getting fish near the edges.
Eight (8) boxes of blue Jell-O (or lime flavored with many drops of blue food coloring)
Lots of gummi candy fish (you can probably get by with a single 3-oz bag)
Candy stars
Make second batch of Jigglers, using remaining four boxes of Jell-O, pour over fish & stars, then allow to cool & firm up (at least 3 hours). You should know, the fish get a little slippery when they are moistened or heated, so handling this as it cools may become a little tricky.
On a second large (flat, no raised sides) cookie sheet, apply a layer of foil. Tape in position. If you have one, arrange a string of battery-powered LED star lights or fairy lights in a semi-random pattern. Tape to foil. Cover with cling plastic wrap.
Then flip jigglers over, onto the plastic sheet, completely covering the lights. With a dull knife (or even your skewer) trim away excess, making room for cake to fit into a gap in it. (If you want, you can pop the scraps into the microwave until they're melted more than a bit, then whip them up to make sea foam, but I decided I'd just set the scraps aside for kids to snack on later in the week.
For the mast, you will need: 1 long pretzel stick (8 inches, at least) or, if you can't find that, a hard candy stick will suffice, I chose the pretzel stick because I enjoy the juxtaposition of flavors among the sweet/tart/salty. Also, it looks a little like a well-seasoned mast to a ship... which is the point. The remaining half of the edible paper can be attached to the mast at the last minute, as a sail, using dabs of leftover frosting. If you want to assemble earlier, you may want to make a spar to support the sail upon its yardarms, by extremely carefully shaving a pretzel in half, or by just adding an inedible part, like a mid-sized bamboo skewer (I drilled a pair of skewers through the pretzel, then just taped the plastic sheet of edible paper to the skewers, so they could cut up the plastic later & lick the sugar off).
onto the ship's bow, securing them to each other with a scant drop of water.
Lazy Vegan's Lemon Sherbet
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Frozen Custard "Ice Cream" To Warm Your Bones
These days, I live far enough away from a source of pasteurized eggs, though, that I've had to resort to making frozen custard, instead. (In case you're wondering if that's a non-sequitur, it isn't. The best real ice cream recipe I ever came across has raw eggs in the finished product.)
So, not wanting to risk salmonella or worse, I found a few different frozen custard recipes, and tried them all out. Some are more complex and sophisticated than others, of course. After experimenting with about a dozen of the likeliest, I finally settled on one as being simple enough to prepare with the help of younger kids, and tasty enough that you don't notice the shortcuts too much.
When you make it with kids, though, you have to leave out one of my favorite parts – the bone-warmer. I like adding a spot of liquor to the mixture, partly for the flavor, partly for the softening effect on the dessert (alcohol lowers the freezing point, so you end up with soft-serve, if you add enough). If you don't have any good liquor on hand, though, all you need to do is take the container of ice cream out of the freezer about 10-15 minutes before serving, to allow it softening time.
Frozen Custard
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
6 egg yolks
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup unsweetened cherry juice
up to 1/2 cup bourbon (optional)
Directions:
1. Pour cream into the top of a double boiler over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
2. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks until well- scrambled.
3. When cream comes to a simmer (do NOT allow to boil), add into egg yolks VERY SLOWLY while constantly whisking. You don't want to dump too much hot cream into the egg too quickly, or it will cook & curdle the eggs.
4. Once the eggs and cream have been thoroughly mixed, return them to the double boiler. Stir constantly with whisk or wooden spoon, until the custard becomes noticeably thickened. Remove from heat, pour through sieve into a medium-sized bowl, and allow to cool a few minutes.
5. Add the sweetened, condensed milk and cherry juice. Mix well.
6. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (overnight is good).
7. Follow your ice cream freezer's instructions on how to freeze this mixture properly. If you wish to add alcohol to the custard, wait until the freezing process is nearly finished, and mix it in completely. To simply keep the custard from becoming too hard to scoop, add only a tablespoon or two. To make it strictly adult, add no more than a half-cup, as any more than that will keep it completely liquid. A half-cup of any standard liquor will make your ice cream soft-serve, as it is.
8. Put in separate, covered container in refrigerator freezer or deep freeze.
Variations:
Instead of cherry juice, try key lime juice, or strained orange juice, or another favorite unsweetened fruit juice. In the final stages of freezing, you might also add some chopped fruit, swirl in a half-cup of your favorite fruit preserves, or, instead of using fruit juice, add some dark chocolate syrup and powdered malt, then add swirls of fudge syrup in the final stage.
For liquored-up variations:
My latest is to cover 1/3 cup dried tart (unsweetened) cherries in honey-infused whisky, and let chill overnight. Strain the cherries & mix the liquid with regular whisky to bring it to 1/3 cup for final stages, finally stirring the cherries into the mix right before going into the deepfreeze.
Daiquiri ice cream: switch out key lime juice for the cherry juice, and use rum instead of bourbon.
Mojito: key lime juice, then muddle some fresh mint into the rum before adding (or use a drop or two of mint essential oil).
Margarita: key lime juice, 3 tbs triple sec and fill the rest of 1/2 cup with tequila. Serve with a sprinkling of sea salt and a wedge of fresh lime or lemon. (fresh, strained orange juice may be substituted for triple sec).
Tequila Sunrise: Divide custard in halves after adding sweetened condensed milk. In one half, mix 1/4 cup pulp-free orange juice. In other, mix 1/4 cup pomegranate juice or 1/4 cup grenadine. Chill. Freeze separately, adding tequila (plus 1/4 cup halved - or coarsely chopped- maraschino cherries into the pomegranate/grenadine mixture, if you wish). Store either in one container, side-by-side or in separate containers, to mix upon serving.
Go ahead. Play a little.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Giant Ice Cream Sandwich
Meanwhile, I pulled out a half-gallon of good vanilla ice cream, let it soften up a little, and scooped out balls of it to fill a 9x13x2" baking pan which I had lined with plastic wrap. Over the balls of ice cream I drizzled slightly warmed fudge sauce and white chocolate sauce, put another sheet of plastic over the surface, and pressed it all down to compact it back into a large sheet of swirled, chilled dessert. I popped it back into the deepfreeze to firm back up. After the brownies cooled and the ice cream hardened up, the brownie came out of the pan in one big piece, to be cut in half and set upon a large board. From there, you can, I hope, imagine the process of making an ice cream sandwich. A layer of brownie, a layer of ice cream, and another layer of brownie, and the sandwich is assembled. Serve immediately.
Note: the ice cream should be quite firm, and the brownies MUST be completely cooled (refrigerate, if necessary, before assembly). Otherwise, what you will get is two layers of soggy brownies in a pool of milkshake.
Serve with more fudge sauce, real whipped cream, plus your favorite fresh berries (we are offering up a variety: raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and also, for the heck of it, dried Montmorency cherries).
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
And, a chocolate pavlova
Un-birthday un-cake: Pavlovas
However, once my parents had returned from their trip, there was a sense that we needed to observe both my birthday and the Bat's, inviting our local extended non-blood family to dinner and dessert. We went all picnic-y and grilled some chicken, served up potato salad, and somebody brought corn on the cob... for all that it wasn't local, & seemed out-of-season, that was really very good.
Anyway, when it came time for dessert, those who know our family were prepared for the fact that we generally don't have cakes, for ourselves. I make lots of them for other people, but we here are pie folk. And, while I didn't feel like rolling out crusts, I also wasn't in the mood for "store-boughten" pie dough, either. In fact, I'd read about a thing called a Pavlova, and thought I'd give it a try.
Now, a Pavlova has a somewhat clouded history -- both Australia and New Zealand lay claim to having served the first, in honor of prima ballerina Anna Pavlova's tour of the lands down under. It was supposed to be light as a feather, just as her dancing was.
Regardless of whose land gave birth to the treat, a meringue is an awesome way to elevate a bowl of fruit... The Bat and I had readied sliced strawberries for everybody but me (allergies), and some Kiwi fruit, some lemon curd, fudge sauce, white chocolate sauce, whipped cream (the real stuff), and some good company, any one of which is fine, but assemble them all, and you have a mess of happy trouble.
And I had made three pavlovas, as experiment.
One thing I learned: I like Splenda (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) in my kitchen.
When you're making meringues of any sort, the trickiest part is really to get the sugars to dissolve smoothly in the egg white. Many recipes call for the use of castor sugar, or, in plain parlance, superfine granulated sugar. If you don't have easy access to that, because you live out in the boonies, a half-day drive from a decent baking goods supplier, you can take your regular granulated sugar and put it through a food processor/blender for anywhere up to five minutes per cup, depending upon the capabilities of your machine.
Don't do that unless you have to prepare your pavlovas more than eight hours in advance. Skip the sugar and go for the sucralose/maltodextrin stuff (if you can find some with probiotic additives, so much the better). It dissolves nicely and performs well in the end, as well. You just have to go by volume, and not weight, when you measure. And, remember, the artificial stuff is slightly sweeter per spoonful than is natural sugar.
Anyway, here's my (slightly lopsided, but nobody complained) pavlova:
Simple pavlova
Ingredients:
4 large egg whites, allowed to come to room temperature
1 c. minus 1 Tablespoon sugar substitute (or 1 c. extra fine granulated sugar)
1/2 tsp good vanilla extract
1 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 Tbs corn starch
Topping:
Fresh fruit of your choice -- berries, kiwi fruit, peaches, pineapple, or whatever you like (or a nice citrus curd, for an inverted, "crustless" meringue pie)
Whipped cream, lightly sweetened and with vanilla added
Directions:
Place rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 250º F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, draw a 7-inch circle on the reverse side of the parchment, then turn parchment back over so ink side is down.
In your clean, dry mixer's bowl (make sure there is no water, oil, or egg yolk in it), using the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium until they hold soft peaks. Set mixer on high, then slowly add in sweetener (take your time, about a tablespoon at a time), until the meringue forms stiff and shiny peaks. Add vanilla extract.
Lightly sprinkle vinegar and corn starch over the top of the meringue, then gently fold in with clean rubber spatula. Do not over-mix at this point, or you will reduce the volume and create a rubbery meringue. Scoop onto parchment on cookie sheet, using spatula to spread it to cover the circle, and making a slight raised edge (create a shallow well structure so it can hold your choice of toppings).
Place on rack in oven, bake 60 to 70 minutes, or, until outside of meringue is dry and beginning to turn a pale golden. Turn off oven, open the oven door, and allow meringue to cool in place.
When using sugar, the meringue may be stored in a cool, dry, airtight container for a few days, but with the substitute sweetener, its crust has a tendency to soften and become sticky after about 10 hours.
Serve by piling on a great dollop or three of whipped cream, then sprinkling your favorite fruits or other toppings over the whole thing, then serve immediately, so the meringue's crust does not have time to become soggy.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Out of this world birthday cake
So, naturally, I beg for the opportunity to do the special cakes for their birthdays. Last year, I built the circus tent cake, followed by the cheeseburger cake. This year, the first cake was, again, chocolate cake, but with white fluffy whipped frosting and almond bark (aka white chocolate), plus a bazillion other ingredients.
You can see most of the bazillion, here.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Fry Bread, for Indian Tacos or other nefarious purposes
Fry Bread
Ingredients:2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 cup powdered buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup water
about 2 cups shortening (for frying)
extra flour (to keep the dough from sticking to your hands
Directions:Begin to preheat shortening in a deep fryer, large frying pan, or deep wok, aiming for about 350º F. You need at least one inch depth to your shortening, so you will need to amend the measurement according to which pot or pan you use.
In a medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Pour the water over the mixture all at once, mixing with whisk or fork until it begins to form one large mass.
Make sure your hands are clean, then flour them well. Using your hands, gently work the dough in the bowl (do not knead, or the bread will become heavy), until it begins to form a slightly sticky ball.
Divide the ball of dough into eight (8) equal pieces. With floured hands, shape a piece of dough into a rough approximation of a six-inch diameter disk (don't worry if it's not exactly round. This is a fun bread, not some uptight wheel of reason). Poke a small hole in the center, gently place the flattened piece of dough into the hot oil (to avoid spattering).
Fry until golden-brown (about 3 minutes or slightly more), then flip it to fry the other side. The bread will be lumpy. Do not worry about unevenness, as it's a feature, not a bug.
Place the fry bread on a paper towel to absorb the excess shortening. Serve hot. If you have to set aside, place in 200º F oven for up to 1 hour before serving.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sweet Bird of Pizza!
Anyway, if you want to try my pizza topping, here's the stuff:
Sweet Bird of Pizza!
(or, if it weren't for the chicken, this could pass for dessert....)
Ingredients:
1 pre-cooked 12-inch pizza crust of your preferred variety
olive oil
4 oz. mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 Tbs. fresh ground ginger
2 tsp. honey
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 Tbs. butter
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 lb. white chicken meat, cut into 1/2-inch or smaller cubes*
1/4 cup (or slightly more) honey-infused whisky
a few shakes (to your taste) smoked tabasco sauce (I used about a dozen)
salt & pepper to taste
sliced or chopped: onions, fresh sweet peppers, hot peppers (remove & discard the seeds)
finely-cut or shredded pineapple (fresh is better, but, if you use canned, be sure to drain it well)
Directions:
Preheat oven according to instructions for crust (usually, for a crispy crust, you'll need a fairly hot oven, around 425º F.). Place crust on a cookie sheet or pizza pan, brush lightly with olive oil.
In a small bowl, mix mascarpone, ginger, and honey until completely blended. Set aside.
Using a medium frying pan or wok at high temperature, stir-fry mushrooms in butter until some of the mushrooms develop a golden-brown, crisp edge. Remove from heat, put in separate bowl. Return the pan to heat, add in chicken, salt & pepper, stir until most of the pink is gone from the meat. Add in honey-whisky and tabasco, simmer, stirring, until liquid is cooked away and meat is lightly golden-brown.
Spread mascarpone mix on pizza crust, sprinkle lightly with mozzarella, then top with all other ingredients, distributed evenly and arranged to please your eye.
Bake on cookie sheet or pizza pan for 7-10 minutes (I do not recommend the extra-crispy method of baking right on the oven rack, because the mascarpone cheese will melt quickly and may run off the pizza onto the bottom of the oven). When the mozzarella and onions have begun to lightly brown, remove from oven, allow to cool about 3-5 minutes before serving.
*I find the easiest way to prepare chicken for the purpose is to take a completely frozen chicken breast and allow it to thaw an hour or so at room temp -- or in the nuke for about a minute at full power -- just enough to make it less of a brick, but still frozen fairly solid. Take out a good, heavy-duty knife and cut while still frozen. Allow those wee chunks to thaw the rest of the way in the refrigerator, or stir-fry while still a little frozen. If you're using a brined chicken breast, you'll want to drain the ensuing liquid from the pan before you add the whisky/tabasco.
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Fudge Nut Layer Bar Cookies (with 30% less guilt than straight fudge)
What do you get when you fix straight fudge and eat the batch? Besides guilt, probably some digestive disorders. But this treat, which the Bat used to fix for our parties about once every six months or so, at least gives us the Bill Cosby breakfast option.
The recipe was, once, a Pillsbury Bake-off winner. Naturally, when the recipes come up in their little cookbooks, they're written to feed a reasonable family of four or so. Our family is neither four nor reasonable. Plus, we have lots of friends who like it when we play in the kitchen, because we like to share (when we can). So the original recipe fits into a 9"x9" baking pan, but the Bat's variation requires a greased 12"x17" (or thereabouts) jelly roll pan and a very level oven.
It also calls for walnuts, but we don't eat those, in this house, due to allergies. If you like them, you can substitute them for the pecans.
The original recipe also requires a double-boiler and patience. We have a nice microwave oven and patience be damned. Waiting for these?... I don't think so.
Decadence… and nutrition |
Fudge Nut Layer Bar Cookies
Ingredients:
for the fudge layer
2 cups (a 12-ounce bag) of your favorite semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
for the cookie layers
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
2 cups firmly-packed brown sugar
2 eggs. unbeaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º F.
In a microwave-safe bowl, warm chocolate chips and butter at high temperature until melted (about 2 minutes, depending upon your nuke). Add sweetened condensed milk, salt, vanilla. Stir until mixed. If needed, reheat slightly before stirring in chopped nuts. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, soda, and salt. Set aside.
In mixer bowl, cream butter, gradually mix in brown sugar. Add eggs, vanilla. Blend well.
Stir in dry flour mixture, then add rolled oats.
In greased (or really good non-stick) jelly roll pan, spread two thirds of the cookie dough to make bottom crust. Cover with fudge mixture. Drop (crumble) remaining cookie dough by teaspoonfuls over top of chocolate filling. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars.