tourtely apple tart

04/19/2011 By

Sometimes I think I can multitask, but I am wrong. While Dave and I were having an interesting conversation about our almost-teenaged nephew gaining independence and confidence, I was jotting down the ingredients for the tart crust. (I don’t bring cookbooks into the kitchen; I don’t want them getting dirty.) I was also congratulating myself on how I was paying attention to the conversation and making insightful responses – although Dave might disagree – while getting a cooking task done.

Nope. I messed it up. I wrote down the version without nuts, even though I had specifically bought walnuts because I thought they’d complement the apples nicely.

So perhaps I didn’t make quite the dessert I was meant to.  In the end, I liked the filling just fine, but the crust wasn’t the right match for it.  It was too simple, too sugary, too cookie-like.  I suspect some bitter earthy walnuts was just the flavor I was craving.  And I suspect this is a lesson I’m going to have to learn over and over again before it sticks.

Jeannette chose this apple tart pie thing for Tuesdays with Dorie, and she has the recipe posted.  I tweaked a bunch of little things with the filling, but nothing crucial.

One year ago: Sweet Cream Biscuits
Two years ago: Chocolate Bread Pudding
 Three years ago: Carrot Cake

Filed Under: dessert, fall, pie, tuesdays with dorie

brown rice

04/17/2011 By

I thought I’d already nailed my favorite brown rice recipe, but over time, I found myself not using it. There were two issues I was having.  One was that it takes an hour and a half, and I don’t have that kind of foresight on an average weeknight.  The other problem is that it starts on the stovetop and is transferred to the oven, which sounds simple enough, but I could never remember the cooking times and didn’t want to check a recipe for a basic side dish.  I have too much else to do and think about; rice can’t be complicated.

In the comments of that baked brown rice post, I was pointed toward a recipe for rice cooked like pasta. Also, Stacy recommended basmati brown rice over other varieties, claiming that it’s more fragrant and flavorful. Because the nutty scent of white rice is one of my favorite aspects of it, I was eager to try any trick to get that experience with brown rice.

This worked. The basmati rice smells sweet and nutty while it boils, exactly how white rice smells while it steams. And the best part is that it’s so simple to make that even I can get it done on an average weeknight.  That means we’ve pretty much eliminated another refined grain from our diets, with very little compromise in terms of effort or flavor.

One year ago: Chicken Fajitas
Two years ago: Anadama Bread
Three years ago: Sichuan Green Beans

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Brown Rice (adapted from Saveur via Pinch My Salt)

This recipe can be scaled up or down as much as you want.

8 cups water
1 cup rice, rinsed
2 teaspoons salt

Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the rice and salt; reduce the heat to medium and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Drain the rice in a strainer and return it to the pot, off the heat. Cover tightly and let set for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork; serve.

(This is Red Beans and Rice.)

Filed Under: gluten free, rice, side dish, whole grains

green pea ravioli in lemon broth

04/14/2011 By

My notes call this Saturday night cooking adventure “Light Italian Meal”. I was experimenting with wet scallops – scallops that have been treated with sodium triphosphate to help them retain moisture. Cooks Illustrated has a recipe designed to make wet scallops palatable, so I gave it a go. I tried to keep the rest of the meal relatively light to compliment the scallops, starting with these ravioli, then moving onto insalata di crudita before serving the seared scallops with almond cream sauce. Pinot grigio and whole wheat ciabatta accompanied every part of the meal.

This was the only recipe I made that night that I was really excited by. The only reason the ciabatta doesn’t qualify is because I didn’t follow much of a recipe, and the salad, although crisp and fresh, was a fairly typical side salad. The scallops were a disaster. Not only was the almond cream sauce too rich, but the scallops themselves didn’t brown until they had overcooked into balls of rubber. What’s worse, while I set them aside to finish the sauce, the cooked scallops released a freaky blue liquid. I choked a down few and filled up on bread.

I wish I had made enough ravioli to fill up on those, rather than teasing myself with a small starter course serving. These pasta pouches with their vibrant filling were the highlight of my meal that night. There aren’t many ingredients in the filling, but each one has something to offer: the peas are both sweet and earthy, the shallots are bright, the parmesan salty. This humble mixture might have not had much to live up to compared to the rest of the meal, but it would have been just as special on its own.

One year ago: Vodka Gimlets
Two years ago: Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Three years ago: Cinnamon Rolls

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Green Pea Ravioli with Lemon Broth (adapted from Gourmet via epicurious)

6 servings

I’ve doubled the amount of filling, because I only had enough filling for 9 ravioli, not the 18 the original recipe indicates.

Pasta:
1⅓ cups (6.4 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Filling:
2 cups baby peas, defrosted
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 shallots, minced
Salt
6 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan
6 tablespoons fresh bread crumbs

Broth:
4 cups chicken broth
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
Squeeze fresh lemon juice

Garnish: fresh chervil or parsley and cooked peas

1. Combine the flour and eggs until smooth (either by hand, with a food processor, or with a stand mixer). Add more flour if the dough is sticky or more water if it’s crumbly. If you stick a dry finger into the center of the dough, it should come out nearly clean. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and set aside to rest while you prepare the filling.

2. Force the peas through the fine disk of a food mill into a bowl to remove their skins. Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat; add the shallot and a pinch of salt; cook until shallot is softened, 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Combine the pea puree, cooked shallot, parmesan, and bread crumbs.

3. Divide the dough into 6 portions. Working with one portion at a time, flatten it and fold in thirds, like a letter. Roll it through the widest setting on a pasta roller. Repeat the folding and rolling 3-4 more times, flouring the dough as needed to prevent sticking. Adjust the pasta roller to the next thinnest setting; roll the pasta sheet through. Continue thinning the pasta until the next-to-thinnest setting. Lay the thinned pasta sheet on a dry dish towel. Repeat with the remaining portions of pasta.

4. Place one rounded teaspoon of filling every 3 inches along the length of a pasta sheet. Using a pasta brush or your fingers, wet the pasta in between the rounds of filling. If the pasta sheet is at least 4 inches wide, fold it lengthwise over the filling. If the pasta sheet is too thin to fold lengthwise, lay a second pasta sheet over the filling. Press around each ball of filling to seal the two layers of pasta together. Use a pizza roller to cut between the filling to form squares of ravioli. Store the ravioli on a dry dish towel (there’s no need to cover it). Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

5. Combine the broth, garlic, lemon zest, and salt and pepper to taste in a saucepan; bring to a simmer. Lower the heat and cover to keep warm.

6. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add a tablespoon of salt and lower the heat until the water is at a lively simmer. Cook the ravioli in small batches until al dente, 2 to 3 minutes, using a skimmer or large slotted spoon to remove the ravioli from the boiling water. Divide the cooked ravioli between six soup bowls.

7. Discard the garlic in the broth. Ladle the hot broth over the ravioli. Garnish with herbs and cooked peas, if desired; serve immediately.

Filed Under: cheese, citrus, freezer friendly, healthy, italian, pasta, soup, spring, vegetables, vegetarian

strawberry double crisp

04/12/2011 By

There’s an inverse relationship between how doughy a dessert is and how often I’ll make it. That means that I will never make something for dessert that doesn’t contain anything resembling flour and butter, like poached pears. Pound cake, on the other hand, is my favorite thing to bake, because it’s nothing but dough. I hardly ever make crisps, and cobbler is only slightly more popular in my kitchen; at least cobbler biscuits are based on dough, even if there is all kinds of fruit mucking up the pureness of the butter and flour mixture.

But oh, this was good. I loved how the strawberries were simmered and crushed into a jam, I loved the combination of strawberries and cranberries (standing in for the unavailable rhubarb), and most of all, I loved how there was crisp topping lining the bottom of the pan as well as sprinkled on top. That bottom layer of topping (bottoming?), which contains both butter and flour and thus resembles dough, baked into something almost cookie-like.

The ratio of fruit to topping was perfect. The combination of berries and plain Greek yogurt was perfect. And most of all, the presence of baked dough was perfect.

Sarah chose this for Tuesdays with Dorie and has the recipe posted. I substituted cranberries for rhubarb, although I’m sure rhubarb would be delicious. I used almond slivers instead of walnuts, then added a dribble of almond extract for good measure. I didn’t have crystallized ginger, so minced up a cube of fresh ginger. I melted the brown sugar with the butter for the topping instead of adding it to the dry ingredients.

One year ago: Swedish Visiting Cake
Two years ago: Chocolate Amaretti Torte
Three years ago: Marshmallows

 

Filed Under: dessert, fruit, spring, tuesdays with dorie

strawberry daiquiri ice cream

04/06/2011 By

When it comes to alcohol, I pretty much like it all. Red wine, white wine, dark beers, light beers, vodka cocktails, straight whiskey. It’s all good. I don’t drink foo-foo drinks often, only because they’re too much work to mix up at home and too low on alcohol to pay for in a bar. But that doesn’t mean I have anything against the combination of fruit and liquor.

Still, doesn’t it seem like fruit puree, citrus, alcohol, and the cream that’s inevitably served, whipped, on top, would be an even better combination churned into ice cream?  The same combination of strawberries and lime, but smoother, richer, and, okay, less alcoholic.

I wish it had occurred to me earlier – like before we ate all the ice cream – to pour rum over the ice cream. Rum float!  Or to mix so much rum into the base that the ice cream doesn’t freeze completely.  Rum slushy!  Or I suppose we could keep this recipe as a dessert and not a cocktail.  If I must.

One year ago: Artichoke Ravioli
Three years ago: Blueberry Poppy Seed Brunch Cake

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Strawberry Daiquiri Ice Cream (adapted from David Lebovitz’s Raspberry Ice Cream recipe in The Perfect Scoop)

Makes about 1 quart

Mine wasn’t as limey as I would have liked, so I’ve doubled both the zest and the juice from what I used. I don’t believe the extra juice will be detrimental to the smoothness of the ice cream. You could also let the half-and-half mixture steep with the zest for up to an hour before reheating it and mixing it with the yolks.

When strawberries are pureed, I often prefer to use frozen berries that have been defrosted. Because they are picked at their peak and immediately frozen, they are often of higher quality than fresh strawberries. Furthermore, they make a smoother puree.

To make this more kid-friendly, feel free to use only half the rum.  Don’t leave it all out, as it helps keep the ice cream softer.

1 cup (7 ounces) sugar, separated
Zest from 2 limes
Pinch salt
1½ cups half-and-half
1½ cups heavy cream
4 yolks
1½ cups (6 ounces) strawberry puree
¼ cup lime juice (2 limes)
2 tablespoons rum

1. In a medium saucepan, rub the lime zest into ½ cup (3.5 ounces) of the sugar until fragrant. Add the half-and-half and heat the mixture over medium-high heat until it simmers. Meanwhile, pour the cream into a large bowl; set a fine-mesh strainer over the bowl.

2. In a separate medium bowl, beat the egg yolks with the remaining ½ cup (3.5 ounces) sugar. When the half-and-half simmers, very slowly pour it into the beaten egg yolks, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pot and bring just to a simmer over medium heat, still whisking constantly. Pour through the strainer into the bowl with the cream; stir to combine. Mix in the strawberry puree, lime juice, and rum. Chill until cold, at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

3. Freeze the ice cream custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once frozen to the consistency of soft serve ice cream, transfer the ice cream to a chilled bowl and freeze until firm.

 

Filed Under: alcohol, citrus, custard, dessert, fruit, gluten free, spring

ice cream tart

04/05/2011 By

It was 96 degrees here on Saturday, which is hot for this time of year even by southern New Mexico standards. Ice cream tartlets on the hottest day of the year would have been perfect. Too bad I was so busy sitting outside enjoying the heat to get the tarts made.

I’m surprised by how well we weathered the heat this weekend. I guess between the breeze, the cool nights, the cheapy kiddie pool full of frigid water to put our feet in, and plenty of shade when the sun got to be too much, we can handle those hot days just fine. The ice cream tarts that got made the next – also hot – day didn’t hurt either.

Jessica chose the Coffee Ice Cream Tart for Tuesdays with Dorie this week, and she has that recipe posted. I went a different direction with a plain tart crust and strawberry daiquiri ice cream. Because there were a few comments about the tart crust being too hard to cut once it was frozen, I increased the butter in Dorie’s Sweet Tart Dough to 10 tablespoons and added an extra egg yolk. Even frozen, this tart crust was perfectly tender.

One year ago: Mocha Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake
 Two years ago: Banana Cream Pie
Three years ago: Lemon Cream Tart

Filed Under: custard, dessert, pie, tuesdays with dorie

chocolate-chunk oatmeal cookies with dried cherries and pecans

04/03/2011 By

Mise en place while baking is not my favorite. My favorite is to measure out the sugar while the butter is whipping, crack open the eggs while the sugar aerates the butter, mix the dry ingredients while the eggs are incorporated, cut open the bag of chips while pulsing the flour into the mixture. And then I eat a spoonful of dough. That’s my idea of a good time.

Chopping interrupts this perfect process. The cherries stick to the knife and the chocolate shatters onto the floor, and it certainly can’t be finished by the time the eggs are blended into the butter. But for some cookies, it’s worth it a few minutes of chopping before I get to the fun part of adding ingredients to the mixer.

For the first oatmeal cookies I ever loved, I can handle chopping a few ingredients. One thing that makes these more lovable than your average oatmeal cookie is chocolate (much like the second oatmeal cookies I ever loved). The other treat is tart dried cherries instead of boring raisins. The pecans add bitterness and the oats contribute to chewiness. It might take five more minutes than some desserts, but it makes for a much more interesting cookie.

Two years ago: Black Bean Squash Burritos
Three years ago: Scotch Eggs

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Chocolate-Chunk Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cherries and Pecans (from Cooks Illustrated)

Makes sixteen 4-inch cookies

CI note: We like these cookies made with dried sour cherries, but dried cranberries can be substituted for the cherries. Quick oats used in place of the old-fashioned oats will yield a cookie with slightly less chewiness. If your baking sheets are smaller than the ones described in the recipe, bake the cookies in three batches instead of two. These cookies keep for 4 to 5 days stored in an airtight container or zipper-lock plastic bag, but they will lose their crisp exterior and become uniformly chewy after a day or so.

1¼ cups (6¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon table salt
1¼ cups (6⅓ ounces) rolled oats, old-fashioned
1 cup pecans, toasted
1 cup dried tart cherries (5 ounces), chopped coarse
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks about size of chocolate chips (about ¾ cup)
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1½ cups (10½ ounces) packed brown sugar, preferably dark
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large (18 by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. In second medium bowl, stir together oats, pecans, cherries, and chocolate.

3. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until no sugar lumps remain, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula; add egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low speed until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl; with mixer running at low speed, add flour mixture; mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. With mixer still running on low, gradually add oat/nut mixture; mix until just incorporated. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.

4. Divide dough evenly into 16 portions, each about ¼ cup, then roll between palms into balls about 2 inches in diameter; stagger 8 balls on each baking sheet, spacing them about 2½ inches apart. Using hands, gently press each dough ball to 1 inch thickness. Bake both baking sheets 12 minutes, rotate them front to back and top to bottom, then continue to bake until cookies are medium brown and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will seem underdone and will appear raw, wet, and shiny in cracks), 8 to 10 minutes longer. Do not overbake.

5. Cool cookies on baking sheets on wire rack 5 minutes; using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Filed Under: chocolate, cookies, dessert, favorites, nuts

pasta with tomatoes, swiss chard, and goat cheese

04/01/2011 By

I think people have the wrong impression about meals around here, particularly on weeknights. The assumption seems to be that someone who loves cooking must be hanging out in the kitchen making elaborate meals every single night. If only.

The reality is that my weeknight evenings are so full of other necessary chores that any meal that takes longer than half an hour stresses me out. A delay in dinner puts me behind schedule for the laundry folding and showering and ultimately ends up cutting into my sleep. And the less sleep I get, the more hateful my alarm is in the morning and the slower I get ready for work and the later I get to work and the later I have to stay at work and the less time I have for cooking the next evening.

Pasta dishes that can be made in the time it takes to boil the pasta are a great option for a quick meal that breaks that cycle.  But the original version of this one wasn’t quite working for me.  I loved the idea of roasting the grape tomatoes before combining them with the other ingredients to accentuate their sweetness.  However, that extra step of heating the oven and throwing in the tomatoes apparently put me over the edge, because I felt vaguely flustered every time I made this.

I needed to simplify it somehow, but I didn’t want to lose that step of concentrating the tomatoes’ flavor.  I love roasted tomatoes, but in this case, where they’re roasted quickly instead of low and slow, it seemed like the stovetop could get the effect right in the same pan used to cook the greens.  In fact, the juice released from the tomatoes helped the chard cook.  With only two dishes, one appliance, and half an hour, this was the perfect weeknight-friendly version of the dish.

One year ago: Artichoke Ravioli
Two years ago:  Cooks Illustrated’s Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
Three years ago: Spinach Feta Pine Nut Tart

Printer Friendly Recipe
Pasta with Green, Tomatoes and Goat Cheese (adapted from Food and Wine via Savory Spicy Sweet)

1 pound fusilli pasta
Salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
½ pound swiss chard, rinsed and coarsely chopped
½ pound soft goat cheese, thickly sliced
½ cup walnut halves, toasted
¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Bring 4 quarts water to rolling boil, covered, in stockpot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta, stir to separate, and cook until al dente. Drain and return to stockpot.

2. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat the oil, garlic, and pepper flakes until the oil flows like water when the pan is tilted. Add the cherry tomatoes, swiss chard, and ¼ teaspoon salt; cover the pan and simmer, stirring occasionally and smashing the tomatoes, until the chard is tender and the tomatoes are soft.

3. Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water; drain pasta. Return the pasta to the cooking pot; stir in the goat cheese and ½ cup of the reserved cooking water. Add the chard and tomato mixture, walnuts, and cheese; stir to combine, adding more pasta water to loosen sauce if necessary.

Filed Under: cheese, nuts, pasta, vegetables, vegetarian, weeknight meal

pecan powder puffs

03/29/2011 By

Every Christmas, my mom would take a plate of our colorful sugar cookies, tree-shaped cream cheese spritz, and chocolate-topped peanut butter blossoms over to the neighbors or a friend. She would return with a plate of their Christmas traditions, which seemed oddly shapen, bland, and stale compared to ours. Invariably, those plates would include these suspicious white blobs. I never knew if they were good or not, because I didn’t try one until last year.

Last year, my mom made her own Mexican wedding cookies (Russian tea cakes, pecan powder puffs, whatever you want to call them), and, oddly, they were some of my favorite cookies on the tray – and not just because I make the brown sugar cookies and cream cheese spritz regularly on my own. Crumbly soft, coated in sweet clouds of sugar, spiced and slightly bitter from the nuts, it’s very possible that I was missing out for years as a kid by ignoring those mysterious white balls the neighbors gave us. I’m making up for lost time now.

For the recipe, go to Tianne’s blog, because she chose these for Tuesdays with Dorie. I used walnuts instead of pecans.

One year ago: Coconut Tea Cake
Two years ago: Coconut Butter Thins
Three years ago: Gooey Chocolate Cakes

Filed Under: cookies, dessert, mexican, tuesdays with dorie

protein waffles

03/26/2011 By

I eat almost flawlessly healthfully on weekdays, and then undo all of that hard work on the weekends. Weekdays are full of vegetables, fruit, lean protein, whole grains, water. Weekends are all about butter, white flour, sugar, beef, wine (and/or beer and/or margaritas). While I have no intention of eating perfectly all the time – mostly because cooking with fat is FUN – perhaps a better balance is in order.

Not to jump to the punch line, but if the only compromise I have to make is eating these healthy waffles instead of cinnamon rolls or biscuit sandwiches for breakfast, I’ll take it. There was absolutely nothing weird about these waffles. Made from just eggs, oats, cottage cheese and protein powder, the flavor and texture were exactly what you would expect from any carb-filled, butter-rich variety, and yet they are perfectly healthy.

Not even one unhealthy ingredient. I have to keep saying it, over and over, because I can hardly believe it. Topped with homemade (not by me) jam and Greek yogurt, this is a perfect breakfast in every way. Now someone needs to come up with a no-compromise version of cinnamon rolls. And beer.

Three years ago: Chocolate Cream Pie

Printer Friendly Recipes
Protein Waffles (from Cara’s Cravings)

Substitutions I’ve made that worked: 2 whole eggs plus a dribble of milk for the 4 egg whites; regular oats for the instant oats Cara recommends; ½ tablespoon honey for the sweetener; vanilla ice cream protein powder, which is all that my grocery store sells and is so sweet that I don’t need any additional sugar at all

Substitution I made that didn’t work: Greek yogurt for the cottage cheese

I don’t recommend cooking this batter in a Belgian waffle iron.

4 egg whites
½ cup (4 ounces) low-fat cottage cheese
½ cup (40 grams) oats
1 scoop (25 grams) vanilla protein powder
2 packets of Truvia, or other sweetener to taste
½ teaspoon baking powder

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

Cook in waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions, to desired crispiness. Spray with nonstick spray between each waffle.

 

Filed Under: bread, breakfast, favorites, healthy, whole grains
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