Yes, kids, it's that time of year. Time for me to try three batches of fudge before one of them comes out. But the one that came out so far was oh-so-fantastic.
I have engineered the formula for fudge by combining the old Hershey cocoa recipe (look it up) with Alton Brown's recipe (look it up) and adding some of my own magic. The formula is:
4 / 2 / 1 plus 3/4 (/drumroll)
That is: 4 parts sugar, 2 parts dairy (I like half and half), 1 part flavoring a la cocoa powder, all by volume. I put 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of half and half, and a half cup of cocoa powder (a proprietary blend of brands) plus 1/8 teaspoon salt in a 4 quart pan and stir it all till it looks homogeneous. You can also use baking chocolate as long as it's 100% cocoa, which obviously won't look homogeneous until it melts. Put it on the stove on 5 and keep stirring until it just begins to boil. You have to stir to make sure that the temperature is even throughout the syrup - you don't want it burning on the bottom and cool on the top. Once it starts to boil, QUIT stirring and just watch. It'll hit softball stage in about 10 minutes or so (I'll try to post pictures of that later). When it gets to softball, CAREFULLY pull the pot off of the heat (not needed if you use gas, you lucky dog) and add a teaspoon of vanilla and 3 tablespoons of butter - that's the plus 3/4 from the formula. Cool to about 130F, then beat with a wooden spoon until it starts to get thick. I like to slowly stir and see how fast the fudge fills back where the spoon was. Once it starts to set (the beating of the spoon is what makes it set, believe it or not) you have to move fast to spread the fudge into a pan. If you want to add nuts (pecans, of course), you can add them in the middle of the beating process.
I have tried once replacing the 1 part of cocoa powder with white chocolate, alas with poor results. I'll try again and post if I can get that to work.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Potato Soup with Mustard Greens
We've been shopping at the farmer's market quite a bit lately for fresh fruit and vegetables. Last time we were there, one of the growers was really trying to sell us some mustard greens, and after a quick sample of the wares, we decided we just had to try cooking up a bunch. So, what's the best place to put them when they're cooked? Well...
Chop 4 strips of bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and cook in the bottom of your soup pan (we use a 5 quart enameled cast iron pot, which I highly recommend) until the bacon is fully rendered. Remove and reserve the cooked bacon. Add a bit of olive oil (not extra virgin) so that there's a couple of tablespoons of fat total in the pot. Add about 1 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup celery, and 1/2 cup red bell pepper plus a pinch of salt and sweat the vegetables for about 5 minutes, until nice and soft. Add two cloves of minced garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Now, add about 3 cups of yukon gold potatoes cut into 1/2 inch cubes and add chicken broth until the potatoes are covered just over 1/2 inch. Simmer the soup for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. At this point, if you want a thicker soup, blend wtih the stick blender to the desired thickness.
To cook the mustard greens, chop them into 1 inch pieces and wilt in a large frying pan with some olive oil and garlic, then add a bit of chicken broth and cover, stirring occasionally, until the greens are fully wilted.
Finish the soup by adding half and half as desired and adding in the cooked mustard greens. Serve with the reserved bacon bits. For an extra treat, grate some cheddar cheese on top of the soup.
Chop 4 strips of bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and cook in the bottom of your soup pan (we use a 5 quart enameled cast iron pot, which I highly recommend) until the bacon is fully rendered. Remove and reserve the cooked bacon. Add a bit of olive oil (not extra virgin) so that there's a couple of tablespoons of fat total in the pot. Add about 1 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup celery, and 1/2 cup red bell pepper plus a pinch of salt and sweat the vegetables for about 5 minutes, until nice and soft. Add two cloves of minced garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Now, add about 3 cups of yukon gold potatoes cut into 1/2 inch cubes and add chicken broth until the potatoes are covered just over 1/2 inch. Simmer the soup for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. At this point, if you want a thicker soup, blend wtih the stick blender to the desired thickness.
To cook the mustard greens, chop them into 1 inch pieces and wilt in a large frying pan with some olive oil and garlic, then add a bit of chicken broth and cover, stirring occasionally, until the greens are fully wilted.
Finish the soup by adding half and half as desired and adding in the cooked mustard greens. Serve with the reserved bacon bits. For an extra treat, grate some cheddar cheese on top of the soup.
Beer and Brats
A couple of times every year, I like to have the team from work over to the house for beer and brats. It's a perfect way to hang out on the deck, grill up some food, and have a good time. Plus, it's an easy recipe.
Start by poking the brats with a fork 10 or so times per side. Slice a medium-sized yellow onion and put it in the bottom of a stockpot, then add the brats. Now, add beer until the brats aren't quite covered, and add water until they're covered by about a half inch. This is perhaps 2/3 beer, 1/3 water. Also add about a half teaspoon each of cardamom and dry mustard, and a bay leaf or two. Bring the pot to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes. The skins will be pale and the sausages will be fully cooked at this point, but they're not quite ready to eat. Now, fire up the grill to about 450 F and grill just until the brats are brown and crisp on the outside. Serve up with whole grain mustard and sauerkraut.
As to the beer, I usually just use average, Bud-type beer. I wouldn't go on the cheap here, but I certainly wouldn't sacrifice good beer (i.e. Sam) for boiling bratwurst.
Start by poking the brats with a fork 10 or so times per side. Slice a medium-sized yellow onion and put it in the bottom of a stockpot, then add the brats. Now, add beer until the brats aren't quite covered, and add water until they're covered by about a half inch. This is perhaps 2/3 beer, 1/3 water. Also add about a half teaspoon each of cardamom and dry mustard, and a bay leaf or two. Bring the pot to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes. The skins will be pale and the sausages will be fully cooked at this point, but they're not quite ready to eat. Now, fire up the grill to about 450 F and grill just until the brats are brown and crisp on the outside. Serve up with whole grain mustard and sauerkraut.
As to the beer, I usually just use average, Bud-type beer. I wouldn't go on the cheap here, but I certainly wouldn't sacrifice good beer (i.e. Sam) for boiling bratwurst.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Fish and... guacamole?
Yep, it probably sounds odd, but trust me, it's fantastic. The aunt is visiting from Kiev and apparently it's a combination that Ukrainians love, so we made our own version. It looks something like this:
Use 1 or 2 whitefish filets per diner. We used the thin whitefish that Costco sells. Soak the fish in buttermilk for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a dredge with cornmeal, salt, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. I don't use exact proportions on such things. I just put cornmeal in the pan and add the spices until it looks about right. Put a 12 inch skillet on medium heat with about 1/4" of canola oil, for pan-frying. Once the oil is hot, dredge the filets in the cornmeal mixture to coat, shake off any excess, and pan-fry, no more than 3-4 at a time. The oil has to remain hot to get the crust crispy, and too much food will cool it too rapidly. It should take about 3 minutes per side to get the crust finished and slightly browned. Drain the fish on a cooling rack suspended over a pan. When the fish are all pan-fried, I put them in our oven on "warm" to keep them nice and toasty while we make the guacamole.
For the guacamole, use one avocado and add about a cup total of diced onion, diced red pepper, and diced tomato (seeded), plus a bit of salt, pepper, and about a half lemon worth of juice to add flavor and keep the avocado from browning.
We served the fish with the avocado on the side, but I suppose we could have gotten all fancy and plated the fish on top of a guacamole bed with all sorts of other fun garnishes. If I wanted to. I'd rather eat.
This meal goes well with a slightly sweet white wine, like a riesling. We served with a chenin blanc-based white.
Use 1 or 2 whitefish filets per diner. We used the thin whitefish that Costco sells. Soak the fish in buttermilk for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a dredge with cornmeal, salt, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. I don't use exact proportions on such things. I just put cornmeal in the pan and add the spices until it looks about right. Put a 12 inch skillet on medium heat with about 1/4" of canola oil, for pan-frying. Once the oil is hot, dredge the filets in the cornmeal mixture to coat, shake off any excess, and pan-fry, no more than 3-4 at a time. The oil has to remain hot to get the crust crispy, and too much food will cool it too rapidly. It should take about 3 minutes per side to get the crust finished and slightly browned. Drain the fish on a cooling rack suspended over a pan. When the fish are all pan-fried, I put them in our oven on "warm" to keep them nice and toasty while we make the guacamole.
For the guacamole, use one avocado and add about a cup total of diced onion, diced red pepper, and diced tomato (seeded), plus a bit of salt, pepper, and about a half lemon worth of juice to add flavor and keep the avocado from browning.
We served the fish with the avocado on the side, but I suppose we could have gotten all fancy and plated the fish on top of a guacamole bed with all sorts of other fun garnishes. If I wanted to. I'd rather eat.
This meal goes well with a slightly sweet white wine, like a riesling. We served with a chenin blanc-based white.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Breadblogging, part I
I've been trying to figure out how to make bread for a long time. A very long time. I had actually given up for quite some time, but somehow this week I was inspired and decided to give it another try. After a couple of attempts, I came up with a recipe that was very successful. So successful, in fact, that one of the two loaves was gone in a couple of hours. So, here's the recipe, or more accurately the method, that I used:
First, make a sponge. Combine:
2 3/4 cups bottled water (filtered or well will work, just not tap water since chlorine and yeast don't play in the same sandbox) - heated to between 110 and 115F
1 teaspoon sugar
1 package active dry yeast.
Stir together, then let sit for 10 minutes or so while the yeast blooms. Then, add 3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and mix with the paddle attachment on the stand mixer for 10-15 minutes. The result will be a gooey, sticky mess. Put in a glass bowl, cover loosely, and refrigerate overnight.
The next day the sponge will have roughly doubled in size and will smell rather fantastic. Take the sponge out of the fridge and put it into the stand mixer bowl. Fit the dough hook onto the stand mixer and run the hook through the sponge to mix the gas around. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and about 1 1/2 cups of flour, stir in with a wooden spoon or spatula, and then start the dough hook again. Keep adding flour until the dough starts to pull off the side of the bowl and forms into a dough ball. (I actually put a little less flour in this batch - the dough comes out a bit sticky and flimsy, but the bread is a bit lighter and moister that way). Knead the dough with the hook for about 15-20 minutes, then pull the dough out of the bowl, divide in half, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Shape the dough into loaves, then place into a loaf pan (we use a "stone" loaf pan). Put a casserole dish on the bottom rack of the oven filled halfway with boiling water from a tea kettle, and put the loaves on the upper rack. Close the oven and let the bread proof for an hour or so. Remove everything, and heat the oven to 400F. Put the bread in once the oven is hot and bake for 40 minutes or until the loaves are brown on top and sound hollow when tapped. Remove the bread from the oven, and let it sit for 30 minutes. As tempting as it is to cut right into it, the carryover is still cooking the inside of the bread at this point, so you must discipline yourself and let it just rest.
Once it has rested and cooled, slice thin, put on a bit of butter, and enjoy.
Next up is wheat bread, then we'll be working on some sourdough. I can't wait!
First, make a sponge. Combine:
2 3/4 cups bottled water (filtered or well will work, just not tap water since chlorine and yeast don't play in the same sandbox) - heated to between 110 and 115F
1 teaspoon sugar
1 package active dry yeast.
Stir together, then let sit for 10 minutes or so while the yeast blooms. Then, add 3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and mix with the paddle attachment on the stand mixer for 10-15 minutes. The result will be a gooey, sticky mess. Put in a glass bowl, cover loosely, and refrigerate overnight.
The next day the sponge will have roughly doubled in size and will smell rather fantastic. Take the sponge out of the fridge and put it into the stand mixer bowl. Fit the dough hook onto the stand mixer and run the hook through the sponge to mix the gas around. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and about 1 1/2 cups of flour, stir in with a wooden spoon or spatula, and then start the dough hook again. Keep adding flour until the dough starts to pull off the side of the bowl and forms into a dough ball. (I actually put a little less flour in this batch - the dough comes out a bit sticky and flimsy, but the bread is a bit lighter and moister that way). Knead the dough with the hook for about 15-20 minutes, then pull the dough out of the bowl, divide in half, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Shape the dough into loaves, then place into a loaf pan (we use a "stone" loaf pan). Put a casserole dish on the bottom rack of the oven filled halfway with boiling water from a tea kettle, and put the loaves on the upper rack. Close the oven and let the bread proof for an hour or so. Remove everything, and heat the oven to 400F. Put the bread in once the oven is hot and bake for 40 minutes or until the loaves are brown on top and sound hollow when tapped. Remove the bread from the oven, and let it sit for 30 minutes. As tempting as it is to cut right into it, the carryover is still cooking the inside of the bread at this point, so you must discipline yourself and let it just rest.
Once it has rested and cooled, slice thin, put on a bit of butter, and enjoy.
Next up is wheat bread, then we'll be working on some sourdough. I can't wait!
Monday, July 7, 2008
The meat grinder
I mentioned in a previous post that we bought a half ribeye from the store and cut some very nice 1 1/4 inch thick steaks from it. Four nice, thick, juicy steaks to be exact. There is just nothing like ribeye for a steak lover. That being said, what happened a couple of days later may border on evil, but... With an odd-sized chunk left over from the end, we cut the remaining ribeye into chunks, fed them through the meat grinder, and made the most delicious ribeye burgers I have ever had. I would never buy ribeye steaks to grind up, but since it was inexpensive, leftover, and not properly shaped for an honest steak, hey, why not? That burger alone was worth buying the meat grinder for.
Katherine's Red Lentil Curry
When your food allergies only allow a limited set of foods, it is somewhat tricky to come up with sufficient sources of protein in sufficient variety to keep picky little taste buds happy. Fortunately, Katherine seems to like lentils enough that we can work those into the mix. They are a great source of protein, and tasty to boot.
Note: We make our own chicken broth by putting half of a natural chicken into a pressure cooker with about 2 quarts of water and a dash of salt, cooking at high pressure for 30 minutes, then allowing the pressure to release naturally and straining the broth. We put it in the fridge overnight and skim the fat in the morning, then freeze 2 cup portions to work with.
Mix together 2 cups of homemade chicken broth, a dash of salt, 3/4 cup of red lentils, half a tablespoon of curry powder, and 2 small seeded chopped fresh tomatos. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the lentils are soft but not mushy. Use a stick blender to puree some of the lentils to a desired consistency. We puree more than I'd like, but just because little K has some trouble digesting at this point.
Note: We make our own chicken broth by putting half of a natural chicken into a pressure cooker with about 2 quarts of water and a dash of salt, cooking at high pressure for 30 minutes, then allowing the pressure to release naturally and straining the broth. We put it in the fridge overnight and skim the fat in the morning, then freeze 2 cup portions to work with.
Mix together 2 cups of homemade chicken broth, a dash of salt, 3/4 cup of red lentils, half a tablespoon of curry powder, and 2 small seeded chopped fresh tomatos. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the lentils are soft but not mushy. Use a stick blender to puree some of the lentils to a desired consistency. We puree more than I'd like, but just because little K has some trouble digesting at this point.
Rib Rub
Everyone has to have their secret rub for barbecue, right? Except, I don't see how keeping it a secret makes any sense, since I'd just as soon we all shared and had better food as a result. So, here's how I do ribs. I made up the rub as a conglomeration of Alton Brown's recipe, plus one used by a (sort of) relative, plus just what I thought would work well.
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup table salt
1 1/2 T chili powder
1 1/2 T paprika
1 t dry mustard
1 t onion powder
fresh ground pepper
1/2 t thyme leaves
dash of coriander
1 t cayenne pepper (more or less to taste, probably more... :-) )
Shake it all together to blend well. When the time comes to eat:
Take a slab of ribs and put a drizzle of canola oil on each side. Put a generous portion of rub on each side and work it in with the oil. Some people advocate mixing rub with oil to make a paste; I don't like doing it that way, but whatever fits your fancy. Let the ribs sit (in the fridge) with the rub for an hour or so. Then, fire up the smoker and smoke the ribs for 3-4 hours at around 225 F. The meat should be pulling back from the bone, nice and tender but not too dry. Let the ribs sit for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, fire up the grill and let it warm up to about 450F. Turn the heat down to medium direct and grill the ribs for about 3 minutes per side, just enough to carmelize the outside and put a bit of a crust on the ribs. You don't need any sauce with these. The rub and the smoke make an excellent flavor combination, and the crust makes a really nice texture contrast. Yum. As much as I prefer wine with a meal, these go absolutely excellent with a good beer. Sorry, Professor Bainbridge.
Also, you can use all paprika with no chili powder (i.e. 3 T paprika), mix in some garlic powder, and douse chicken wings with the rub. Let them stand for about an hour in the fridge, then grill right about 400F for 10-15 minutes per side, depending on how done you like them.
At some point, I'll dig up a good recipe for sauce, and we'll have another rib post, using a glaze instead of a rub. I can't wait.
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup table salt
1 1/2 T chili powder
1 1/2 T paprika
1 t dry mustard
1 t onion powder
fresh ground pepper
1/2 t thyme leaves
dash of coriander
1 t cayenne pepper (more or less to taste, probably more... :-) )
Shake it all together to blend well. When the time comes to eat:
Take a slab of ribs and put a drizzle of canola oil on each side. Put a generous portion of rub on each side and work it in with the oil. Some people advocate mixing rub with oil to make a paste; I don't like doing it that way, but whatever fits your fancy. Let the ribs sit (in the fridge) with the rub for an hour or so. Then, fire up the smoker and smoke the ribs for 3-4 hours at around 225 F. The meat should be pulling back from the bone, nice and tender but not too dry. Let the ribs sit for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, fire up the grill and let it warm up to about 450F. Turn the heat down to medium direct and grill the ribs for about 3 minutes per side, just enough to carmelize the outside and put a bit of a crust on the ribs. You don't need any sauce with these. The rub and the smoke make an excellent flavor combination, and the crust makes a really nice texture contrast. Yum. As much as I prefer wine with a meal, these go absolutely excellent with a good beer. Sorry, Professor Bainbridge.
Also, you can use all paprika with no chili powder (i.e. 3 T paprika), mix in some garlic powder, and douse chicken wings with the rub. Let them stand for about an hour in the fridge, then grill right about 400F for 10-15 minutes per side, depending on how done you like them.
At some point, I'll dig up a good recipe for sauce, and we'll have another rib post, using a glaze instead of a rub. I can't wait.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Allergy-Resistant Chicken Nuggets
It's a real challenge cooking for a little girl who has food allergies out the wazoo. We can't have corn (that's a biggie), green beans, oats, peaches, milk, wheat, eggs,.... well, it's shorter to list what we can have, which happens to include chicken, rice, and peas. There are only so many ways you can prepare chicken, and nuggets seem to be a hit, so we gave it a try. We also had to buy organic chicken breasts to eliminate the possibility of arsenic (go figure - the pesticides and other junk they put on chicken feed ends up in the chicken meat, and Katherine ended up showing high levels of arsenic on her tests). I have been geeking out about our new meat grinder, so it was great to get a chance to run the chicken through and see how well it would work. Of course, it did fantastic. One nice thing about the chicken we bought is that they don't add water during processing - the first time we tried grinding chicken it came out to a smooshy mess. We mixed in peas and a tad of salt, made patties, dredged them in rice bread crumbs, and pan-fried in some olive oil. I happen to think they were quite tasty, and fortunately, so did Katherine.
Hopefully we'll be putting together more recipes of gluten-free and casein-free foods. We'll share the ones that end up being good.
Hopefully we'll be putting together more recipes of gluten-free and casein-free foods. We'll share the ones that end up being good.
Ribeye 101
We had steak for Father's day. Friday we were at the local grocery store and found a whole ribeye that looked quite tasty. Of course it was way more beef than we needed, but that just means more steak later. So, on to the preparation...
My father has grilled (no pun intended) into my psyche that it is an abomination to put anything more than salt and pepper on a fine steak. So, sorry Dad, but I had to make a slight tweak. I mixed together salt, fresh cracked pepper, some dried thyme leaves, and a bit of olive oil into a thick sludge and slathered it on both sides of the steaks. I heard somewhere that the thyme leaves will add just a smidge of flavor that blends well with red wine, so I had to give it a try. I grilled them just perfect, a bit past medium rare. The thyme doesn't hide the beef like a spice rub; it just helps the meat work that much better with the other food. We served the steak with salad and steamed broccoli.
For the wine, we decided to have a Cabernet Franc from Keswick Vineyards, which is a local winery less than an hour drive from here. Most Virginia red wines are pretty mediocre, so I have to say I'm quite pleased at how well this worked. Tons of coffee and chocolate, and it stood up quite well to the strong flavor of the steak. Quite delicious.
My father has grilled (no pun intended) into my psyche that it is an abomination to put anything more than salt and pepper on a fine steak. So, sorry Dad, but I had to make a slight tweak. I mixed together salt, fresh cracked pepper, some dried thyme leaves, and a bit of olive oil into a thick sludge and slathered it on both sides of the steaks. I heard somewhere that the thyme leaves will add just a smidge of flavor that blends well with red wine, so I had to give it a try. I grilled them just perfect, a bit past medium rare. The thyme doesn't hide the beef like a spice rub; it just helps the meat work that much better with the other food. We served the steak with salad and steamed broccoli.
For the wine, we decided to have a Cabernet Franc from Keswick Vineyards, which is a local winery less than an hour drive from here. Most Virginia red wines are pretty mediocre, so I have to say I'm quite pleased at how well this worked. Tons of coffee and chocolate, and it stood up quite well to the strong flavor of the steak. Quite delicious.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)