Snowball Cake for the Holidays

Recipe can be found here:

Gathered ingredients.

Preparing Cake as Directed on Box.

Drop in creamed cheese whipped with egg & sugar.

Bake 1 hour + 5 minutes at 350.
Cool 10 min, then invert and cool completely:

Staffles!

What do you do with leftover stuffing? Rachel Ray suggested waffle ironing for breakfast. Genius!!

Thanksgiving leftover preparations

When you go elsewhere for dinner, you get no leftovers. Thus I make my own pre-thanksgiving meal and stick it all in the fridge for munching on!

Heroes & Legends - Claremont

This was the biggest order of chili cheese fries I've ever seen.

The LA#19 Pastrami was off the hook. Tender meat, perfectly mixed slaw... REALLY GOOD.

Thus ended our adventure to Claremont. Except for a stop at "I Love Pie" for Snickerdoodle Pie. Oh, yeah.

Oreo, Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcake

Ingredients
*pb filled oreos
*creamy pb
*box of brownie mix
*cupcake papers & pan

Directions
Use pb to stack oreos in pairs of twos. Drop then in the paper cups in the cupcake pan. Mix brownie mix per box directions. Pour batter over oreos just to cover. Bake 20 minutes at 350°.

Givin' it the old college Thai

* Besides a homemade peanut sauce, I've never really had Thai food.  I've been a little afraid that the heat of it would overcome me.  Therefore, today I venture out at halftime of the Badger game to try out Wood Thai Restaurant take-out, which is literally around the corner from us and I've looked in and never attempted before.  It used to be Rosie Thai (for you locals), but they've changed their name and updated a bit.  I'm determined to branch out and try something new; stand by for the report!

We ordered the Shrimp Pad Thai lunch special (with salad and rice), and a Thai Style BBQ Chicken House Special (with shrimp fried rice and salad).  The salad was very tasty with the dressing which was tangy with a black spice- not poppy seed but something similar.  The chicken was tasty, but the skin was very rubbery and kind of gross.  It came with a red chili dipping sauce that I skipped.  The pad thai noodles with shrimp was very good, but that'll be dinner as this was a lot of food for us.  Shrimp fried rice was great; not overly sticky rice.  I'd get the pad thai again.  Love the crushed peanuts!  Yum!!

Macarons! Ooh la la!

I have a little girl who is my teacher aide, and she is my former student from last year.  Her little brother is friends with my son, too.  She's just the sweetest girl, and not only is she a proud nerd, she's a little foodie at heart.

Last year she gave me homemade macarons for the holidays. I had one, and Aidan at the rest.  They were bomb!

So this year, I asked her for her recipe, and thought I'd get a card or a one page internet print.  No...

I got 3 hand-written pages, highlighted in pink with great care where I was warned to "fold...don't overmix or undermix" in the "macronage stage".  A recommendation for a Silpat over parchment paper was given.  Steps ended with "Voila!" and "now for the ganache".  OMG!  Love, love, love her.

Today was the day for the test.  I followed her suggestion to make my own almond flour, as it is REALLY expensive in the stores.  This is where we began:

Following her detailed instructions, they dried for 1 hour on the counter before baking at 280 for 10 minutes on one side, turn the pan, and baking for 10 more minutes.  Cool completely and then add the ganache. 

I opted for chocolate buttercream today because I had all the ingredients at home; but my master chef suggests ganache made from heavy cream, honey, and Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate shavings. My heart beams with pride!

And now, after the long process:

Yummy!

Biscuit Breakfast Bake

Ingredients

5	eggs
¼	cup milk
16	oz refrigerated breakfast biscuits (I used the Pillsbury flakey kind)
4	scallions (green onions, spring onions, whatever you prefer to call them)
1	cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
	If you’re into the meats – cooked center cut bacon or cooked sausage

I updated the above, because the original recipe I saw called for 10 eggs... no wonder mine was runny!

*Note- I baked 30 minutes and mine still was a bit runny; I had to microwave the servings to get the egg cooked.  I think if I'd baked it longer, it would have burned on top.  Maybe bake 40 minutes total, i.e. 30 with foil, and remove the foil the last ten minutes to just brown the top of the biscuits.

Parmesan crusted tilapia with butter bean medley and wild rice

Butter beans, celery, onion, zucchini, tomato, & garlic sauteed together with a little salt and fresh basil

Orrechiette with Turkey and Broccoli

Ingredients
3/4 pound orecchiette
2 cups broccoli florets
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Parmesan, for serving

Directions
Cook the pasta according to the package directions, adding the broccoli during the last minute. Drain and return the pasta and broccoli to the pot.Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turkey, garlic, fennel seed, and red pepper and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until browned, 3 to 5 minutes; season with ½ teaspoon salt.Toss the turkey mixture with the pasta and broccoli and the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Serve with Parmesan.

I used green beans in lieu of broccoli. Still was very good!

Lavash

Since I've needed to cut down on my carbs these days, I'm going for whole grain, sourdoughs, or flatbreads like Naan, Pita, and now Lavash.

Armenian Lavash is easy to make and it is great for a flatbread pizza, wrap, or anything else where you need to substitue a yeast-free bread.

Dissolve 1 1/2 T of table salt in 1 C hot water.
Add 3 C of flour to your mixer with the dough hook attached.
Make a well in the center of the flour and add about 1/3 of the salt water.
Begin to mix slowly and add the remaining water in a drizzle as you go.
Allow it to knead just until it pulls away from the bowl.
    
Cover and let rest 20 minutes.  Then divide into egg sized pieces and roll out flat to the diameter of your skillet.







I'm using a cast iron pan to do so.



Cook each side until browned, a few minutes on each side.


Once cooked,  you can make many things, but I made flatbread pizza.  Drizzle some EVOO, cheeses, fresh basil and toast until cheese melts.

Lumpia

Traditional  Filipino egg rolls loved by my son. Serve them with sweet chili sauce.

In 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, brown
1 pound ground pork. Remove from skillet. Add to skillet 2 cloves garlic, crushed, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup minced carrots, 1/2 cup chopped green onions, 1/2 cup thinly sliced green cabbage, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon soy sauce.
Saute until veggies soften, add pork in and mix. Let cool.

Using 30 lumpia wrappers (wonton wraps)... Place 1-2 T of the pork mixture. Roll up right & seal with a little water. Use 2 cups vegetable oil for frying until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.

You can also use beef or as pork/beef mix.

Garlic Parmesan Savory Waffles

Savory waffles are great, and the these are so easy. You use refrigerated crescent rolls. 

Unwrap them, roll them out into rectangles (2 crescents per rectangle). 

Then you make a garlic butter: 2T butter, 2 tsp oregano, 2T Parmesan, and two minced garlic cloves. Spread it on the inside of the rolls, then roll backup (2 crescents makes one waffle). Spray Pam on your waffle maker and you put two of the rectangles on the waffle iron at a time. It takes about 3 to 5 minutes. Serve as a side to pasta.

Grilled Tilapia in Foil Packets

Ingredients:

4 pieces of tilapia
1/2 of a small onion sliced
1 cup of matchstick carrots
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1/2 green bell pepper, sliced thin
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 green onions, sliced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 seasoned panko breadcrumbs

Preheat grill to about 350 °F

Cut 4 18×18 pieces of heavy-duty tin foil.

Divide the onions, pepper, and carrots evenly and place them in a small pile in the center of the foil pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Lay one piece of fish over each veggie pile. Sprinkle with salt and pepper then divide the remainder of the ingredients over the top of the fish. Seal each package by bringing the two opposite edges of the foil together and crimping it, but don’t press it flat. Leave some room in the top of the foil package so it can steam. Fold the other edge in and up slightly toward the center, so the liquid doesn’t leak out and the package is sealed but not flat.

Place foil packages on BBQ for about 12 minutes depending on the size of the filets. You can open one slightly to see if it is cooked.

*NOTE: I'd leave out the carrots next time. They were too sweet in the citrus sauce. I'll substitute mushrooms maybe. Fish, however, was delicious and perfectly cooked.

"Shrimp on the Barbie"

Dan is still laughing at me in his Australian accent. Silly or not, this is a delicious grilled shrimp recipe, & it's easy and tasty.

I paired it with Uncle Ben's brown & wild rice medley (these little 90 second packs are great!).

Pane e Vino

We just tried Pane e vino in the old Sugar Bowl location. Service was good. Food was good. Prices average, but I will say that $12 was a lot for the portion of pasta we got. We shared a Formaggio Recco flatbread pizza and an order of Campanelle with cheese & breadcrumbs. The waitress said there was bacon in it, but I neither saw nor tasted any bacon or pancetta.

For dessert there was Panecotta with VERY tart apricot sauce on top. However, my mini canolis were very good.

No wine for a month until they get their liquor license!

The menu is limited; not sure Covina has the clientele for this type of osteria... we'll see if they last. The artisan pizza shop opening down the street may fair better.

Mon Dieu!! Dites que ce n'est pas vrai!!

While updating my blog this morning, I was saddened to learn of the closing of Le Bec Fin. Clicking on their link, it simply said:

"Fin. - thank you for your 43 years of patronage".


 


Sacre blue!  This cannot be!!  I am turning 43 next month, and the thought that those seared ahi tuna steaks, and that 3-tier dessert cart shall no longer exist saddens me greatly, as does the fact that I live on and that ganache chocolat does not.







Au revoir, George Perrier!  Merci beaucoup pour les recipes est les cuisine magnifique!  Vous-etres un chef de cuisine est un boulangere extraordinaire!! 

Bon retraite!

Cooking with Aidan: Homemade Peanut Butter

One of the things I want to make sure I do as a parent is teach my son how to cook. My husband can "cook", but it's pretty much limited to heating up pizza in the microwave, and stirring Kraft macaroni & cheese on the stove. {There is a long-held myth that Dan can make Lasagna, but it has never been proven, so it remains part of the oral tradition} For Aidan, I want him to have a entire repertoire of basic recipes at the least; so far, so good.  He's quite capable of making himself eggs and/or an omelette.  He still calls over-easy "poppin' eggs", which I love to hear as it is reminscent of the little boy in there somewhere.  He has to be watched, though, because his ability to cook eggs (scrambled, o/e, omellette, etc) means he will eat them often and I fear he will face cholesterol problems in the future.  He also likes making pizza dough and topping the pie.  Cookies? Yep. Cakes & brownies from a box?  Yes. Boiling pasta?  Uh-huh. Today's experiment was homemade peanut butter.  

Ingredients are simple:

 

(note: I used lightly salted so I didn't add any salt to the recipe)

Equipment:
1 Cup and 1 Tablespoon measures, and a food processor.

Literally the easiest thing.
2 C peanuts, 1-2 T peanut oil. (Start with one, add as needed- the peanuts release their own oil)
Blend until smooth.

 

Voila!  Homemade peanut butter.  And a bonus, 'how to make PB & J's'.  

Ricotta!

Bon Appétit Magazine asked:

 

And my answer was, "I don't know."  

So I thought, let's give this a try:

 

Lined strainer with cheesecloth (double layer).

 

 Ingredients.

 

Bringing the milk, cream, and salt to just a boil.

 

Remove from heat, add an acid (lemon juice or white vinegar).

Stir gently until curds form; set for 5 minutes.

 

Pour whey and curds into cheesecloth.

 

 Let sit 20 minutes.

 

This is what it looks like; mine was a creamier curd;  

chill & keep in fridge up to 3 days.

So what do you do then?  You make lasagna rolls, of course! 

 

The longer you chill and drain the curds, the drier it gets.

I used it fresh, so it was still creamy.  I am saving these for dinner, so 

I'll bake them for about 15 minutes or so to heat. 

I also found what I suspect may be a better ricotta recipe from Mario Batali.  

Click HERE for that one.

It's really not hard to make this; and it tastes better than the gloppy stuff we get in the grocery store in those vacuum sealed plastic containers.  I don't use it often, but when I know I need it for a recipe, this is a pretty simple process to follow.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

It’s too hot to start the oven on this summer day, so we’re making Chicken Tortilla Soup in the slow cooker.  We started with corn, black beans, 1# chicken, onions, 2 cans cream of chicken soup (condensed), a bottle of picante sauce, cumin, salt.  Cut the chicken into 1/2 inch cubes.

 

In the crockpot--- dang it!  I forgot to get liners again!--  Stir together the chicken and picante sauce.

 

Add the 2 cans of soup, and 2 cups of corn ( used 1 cup corn, 1 cup mixed veggies).

 

Add the can of beans (drained and rinsed) plus 1 can water.

 

Now chop up 4 green onions OR 1 small yellow onion and add.

 

Stir together and turn the crock pot on low for 4-5 hours.

And...yummo!!