IMBB/SHF: Biscuits de potiron et de farine d'avoine

Thanksgiving's over and in order to celebrate the upcoming holiday season, Jennifer from The Domestic Goddess (also the founder of Sugar High Fridays) and Alberto of Il Forno (the founder of Is My Blog Burning?) have joined forces to create a Cookie Swap. They're asking food bloggers to post their favorite holiday cookie recipes so the rest of us can try them out once the Holidays roll in--kind of like a virtual cookie exchange.

The main point of this event, was that people shouldn't have to go crazy looking through cookbooks, but instead should pick their real tried-and-true recipes. Unfortunately, I don't have any. I'm not a baker and I have no idea what recipe I used the last time I made holiday cookies. When we celebrate the holidays in my house, we make potato latkes and roast a goose, stopping off at Ecce Panis to buy sweets. That's the way we've done it for years and I haven't heard complaints yet.

But I haven't made cookies in years and drop cookies are supposed to be easiest, so I made these Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, using a recipe from The Classic Zucchini Cookbook for some basic inspiration. The result? They're not pretty (my uncle said they looked more like meatballs than cookies) but they are good. Not too sweet, but with a nice hint of exotic from the Cardamom I threw into the batter on a whim. Also, because Mom doesn't eat chocolate, I made half without the chocolate chips.

Biscuits de potiron et de farine d'avoine

1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
Seeds from 7 pods of Cardamom (a little over 1 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
1 large Egg
2 cups Pumpkin Puree
1 1/3 cups Rolled Oats
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (optional)
1/2 cup Dried Cranberries
1 cup chopped Walnuts

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together Flour, Cinnamon, Cardamom Seeds, Baking Powder and Baking Soda until well-combined.

In a large bowl, beat Butter, Granulated Sugar, Brown Sugar, Egg and Vanilla until creamy. Continuing mixing on low speed, add the Flour mixture a little at a time until all incorporated. Mix in Pumpkin Puree, Oats, Chocolate Chips (if using), Cranberries and Walnuts.

Take heaping tablespoons of the dough and form it into balls. Drop onto ungreased Baking Sheets, keeping Balls about 2 inches apart from each other (they do expand in the oven).

Bake for 12-14 minutes, until a toothpick comes out dry (or virtually dry if you like your cookies soft).

Allow cookies to cool slightly before removing them from baking sheet.

Makes about 30 cookies.


Food and Baking and Recipe and IMBB #21 and SHF #14 and Cookie and Dessert and Vegetarian and Dairy

Imagine: Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

Usually, if I'm going to have a meal worth blogging about, I make it from scratch, especially if it's something cooked. But every so often, I'm lazy. I want a warming and filling bowl of soup, but without going through the trouble of making a whole pot of it, especially if I'm the only one eating it. Often I ignore such feelings and just make a soup, freezing leftovers or convincing some innocent soul to eat with me. But other times the microwave calls and I just nuke a bowl of packaged, prepared soup.

Most of the time, this soup is unflavorful and generally forgettable. However, I've finally found a brand I like--Imagine, a natural, organic brand that makes many wheat, gluten and dairy-free foods, made with real ingredients. Specifically, I had their Creamy Butternut Squash Soup, which I bought at Trader Joe's. While the soup itself had a very pleasant flavor, I found it was even better with a dollop of Greek Yogurt and some Cinnamon stirred in. Also, because I had a Spinach Salad on the side, I threw in a few spinach leaves to make it more interesting.

The result? Heavenly. And, perusing the Imagine website, I see they even have a recipe for Shells with Creamy Butternut Squash Sauce. That'll have to be for a day I do feel like cooking.


Food and Products and Prepared Food and Soup and Salad and Lunch and Quick Recipe and Vegetarian and Kosher and Dairy

Sunday Breakfast: Egg & Onion Matzo with Cream Cheese

Andrew has come up with a breakfast meme. He wants to know what everyone had for their Sunday breakfast today!

I like lazy Sundays--waking up late, sitting with a big cup of coffee and catching up on my news (serious, frivolous and blogs). When my stomach starts to growl, I like a nice big breakfast, usually with eggs and sometimes some kind of breakfast meat as well.

Some Sunday mornings, however, I have no time to be lazy. This morning, for instance, I had a rehearsal at 9 AM. I work as a stage manager, which means that if a rehearsal starts at 9, I have to be there at 8:40 at the earliest to unlock and set up the space so that we can start at 9. Of course, all of this means that I spent my Sunday morning waking up at 7:15 AM.

While reading my e-mail and glancing at headlines, I needed something quick to eat that would still give me a boost of energy. Normally I have a yogurt, but I had bought some Egg & Onion Matzos in the Kosher section of Ralph's a few weeks ago and I wanted to try them out. I thickly smeared the Matzo (which invariably crumbled into several pieces) with Cream Cheese. It was delicious! The Egg & Onion Matzos are a little salty (with just a hint of spice from the Onion Flakes), so the Cream Cheese mellows them out nicely.

Even though I prefer to wake up at a normal hour on Sundays, this was quite tasty.

Food and Sunday Breakfast and Breakfast and Vegetarian and Jewish and Kosher and Dairy

Update: Andrew has posted a round-up of everyone's Sunday morning breakfasts!

Donna Hay: Cashew Butter Cupcakes

Picture taken by J. Dell'Era and cupcakes decorated by Miss Dell'Era and J. Vinogradsky

According to Nic, Donna Hay is the Australian Martha Stewart. This was my first encounter with her, but regardless, she knows how to make some damn-good cupckaes. Barbara, from winosandfoodies, has started a meme for Donna Hay's self-frosting cupcakes. The original recipe calls for peanut butter frosting , but various people have been playing around and Nutella seems to be the frosting of choice.

I decided, since Miss Julie, one of my lovely ladies, is on a nut binge lately, to play with a more exotic nut butter than peanut butter, but still stay in the chocolateless family. Of course, dark chocolate pastilles were added to beautify the cupcakes, but the taste still stayed quite nutty. What was my "exotic nut," you may ask? Why, cashews!

To make Cashew Butter, simply blend 2 cups of Roasted Cashews with 1-2 tablespoons of Oil. This is easy and delicious! I now have a little tub of Cashew Butter to spread on Toast in the mornings or for a midnight snack.

And, perhaps more importantly, the cupcakes? They were delicious, especially with a tall glass of Milk!

Cashew Butter Cupcakes

10 tablespoons Butter
3/4 cups Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Pinch Cinnamon
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
Cashew Butter

Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 12-muffin tin with paper cups.

Cream Butter and Sugar. Add Eggs, one at a time, and mix until well-incorporated. Add Vanilla. Stir in Flour, Salt, Cinnamon and Baking Powder. Mix until fully combined and no specks of Flour remain. Fill each Muffin cup about 3/4 full of batter. Mix in a spoonful of Cashew Butter, swirling it into the Batter.

Bake 20 minutes. Let cool completely before eating.

Optional: Smear a little more Cashew Butter on top of Cupcakes and stick a Cashew and/or a Chocolate Pastille into the Cashew Butter topping.

Update: Check out Barbara's round-up! And congratulations to Glutton Rabbit for the prettiest picture.

Food and Baking and Recipe and Dessert and Donna Hay and Dairy

Edible Birthday Goodies

Last Wednesday was my birthday. And, wouldn't you know it, the wonderful ladies with whom I live decorated our hallway with streamers! Actually, I wasn't allowed out of my room while the streamers were being put up. But I suppose that's a sign of love. At least, that's what they told me.

Also not surprisingly, I received food-related gifts, about which I just had to brag.


One of my ladies gave me this fabulous Creme Brulee Set, complete with Ramekins and a Blow Torch. She said they also had one with a pre-made Creme Brulee mix, but she decided her "foodie friend would want to come up with her own mix." Good thinking! Doesn't she know me so well? I promise to experiment with it soon and I'll be sure to post about the results.

My other "foodie" gift was from my other lady's boyfriend, who spends a fair amount of time with us, not surpisingly. From him, I received a bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne, "Nectar Imperial," according to the side of the box. We're discussing when to crack open this beauty and with what to enjoy it. Again, tasting notes will follow.

Drink and Cooking and Presents and Holidays and Birthdays

Prosciutto and Tomato Open-Faced Sandwich

Some days, the best meal is a simple one.

This open-faced sandwich consists of a thick slice of Trader Joe's Rosemary Batard, spread generously with their Crushed Garlic and two slices of Prosciutto. Because my Cherry Tomatoes were so juicy, I preferred to eat them on the side, but they could easily be sliced in half and placed on top of the meat.

Delicious!

Food and Lunch and Sandwich and Quick Recipeand Meat and Pork

The Great Pumpkin Carve-Off: Pumpkin Pie with Pumpkin Seed Crust

I know. After announcing I'm not a baker, I bake. Again. But this time I have an excuse! Elise, of Simply Recipes, is (was) holding a contest for creative and delicious uses of the left-overs from carving a pumpkin. I haven't carved a pumpkin in years, so this seemed like as good an excuse as any. Also, I was back in New York for the weekend, which meant the Boy joined me in pumpkin carving. And since pie is one of his absolute favorite foods, I decided it was only fair to make him one.

To make this pie, I got my idea from another recipe in Canyon Ranch Cooks. Their recipe was for a Pumpkin Pie with a Pecan Crust. Looking at my ever-growing pile of Pumpkin Seeds, I decided to make the crust with a combination of ground Pumpkin Seeds and Graham Crackers instead. Not very sweet, it came out with a "homey" taste, something you'd expect a grandmother to serve. I think it would be best with whipped cream, though we loved it straight. You can substitute canned pumpkin puree for the fresh puree I made by steaming peeled pieces left over from our Jack O'Lanterns.

Pumpkin Pie with Pumpkin Seed Crust

10 Graham Crackers
2 tablespoons Pumpkin Seeds, toasted in 250 F oven.
1 tablespoon + 1 cup Pumpkin Puree
Oil to coat pie plate
2 Eggs
3/4 cup Evaporated Fat-Free Milk
1/4 cup Apple Juice Concentrate
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
3 Cloves, ground
Pinch Salt

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a food processor, combine Graham Crackers and Pumpkin Seeds until all crumbs are more or less of the same texture. Move to a medium bowl and add 1 tablespoon Pumpkin Puree. Mix well. Grease 9" pie plate (I used Peanut Oil), then press Graham Cracker and Pumpkin Seed mixture into bottom and up sides.

In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients, including 1 cup Pumpkin Puree. Blend well.

Pour Pumpkin mixture into pie crust.

Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Once cooled to room temperature, refrigerate pie.

Serve chilled.

Update: The results are in! Check them out and congrats to the winners.

Food and Recipe and Pumpkin Carve-Off and Dessert and Vegetarian and Dairy

Strawberry Muffins

I would never even begin to consider myself a baker, but there is something wonderful about making a batter, putting it into an oven and watching it puff up into something sweet and delicious. I always feel such a sense of accomplishment after baking and I find it more magic than cooking. I know what will happen to a roast or a fish when I put it in the oven. It will cook and the meat will be flavorful and (hopefully) moist. When you take a trout or a duckling out of the oven, it looks browner, but not much different from when you put it in.

Baking is different. You have to measure everything exactly; no "a pinch of this and a spot of that." At least for me, I have to follow a recipe almost to the letter and not improvise as I go along. However, in some ways, the payback is greater. I'm never really sure what's going to happen, so when it works, it's even more exciting than cooking savory foods.

Sunday was a particularly unproductive day for work, so I decided the only way to fight my feeling of uselessness would be to bake. I had some strawberries languishing in the fridge from my Fruit Salad and a muffin tin that was just waiting to be used. So I decided to make Strawberry Muffins, using my newest cookbook (and as of then untested), Canyon Ranch Cooks. This cookbook has gorgeous pictures and has foods that remain more or less healthy, so the recipe called for half Whole Wheat Flour, half All-Purpose Flour and there was Non-Fat Yogurt and no Butter. Because I had no Whole Wheat Flour, I used only All-Purpose. Other than that, I remained very faithful to the recipe. The muffins came out delicious. While not sweet, they made a wonderful breakfast and would have been perfect with tea and a little cream. But I suppose that defeats the purpose of being Healthy Food.

Strawberry Muffins

1 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg
1/3 cup Milk (I used 2 %)
1/3 cup Nonfat Plain Yogurt
2 tablespoons Canola Oil + for coating muffin tins
1/3 cup Turbinado Sugar
1 cup Strawberries, chopped and hulled

Preheat oven to 350 F. Dampen a paper towel with Canola Oil and coat cups of a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a large bowl, combine Flour, Baking Powder and Salt

In a medium bowl, combine Egg, Milk, Yogurt and Canola Oil, then add Sugar, mixing well.

Create a well in the dry ingredients, then slowly add the wet. Mix well until everything is combined well and there are no lumps. Add fruit and stir until evenly distributed throughout batter.

Place 1/4 cup of batter in each muffin tin and bake about 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Remove muffin tin from oven and place on a rack to cool. If desired, sprinkle muffin tops with a pinch of Cinnamon and/or some Sugar for a burst of added flavor.

Makes 12 Muffins.

Update: Barbara, from Winos and Foodies, liked these so much she made them over the weekend, with a spoonful of Nutella inside.

Recipe and Breakfast and Vegetarian and Dairy

Spaghetti with clams

One of my favorite parts of cooking is basing a meal on one ingredient that's been hanging around for a bit too long. One night, I had several gorgeous tomatoes sitting around, "on their way out," as Mom would say. So I envisioned a simple but hearty pasta sauce to use up all five of my up-until-then forgotten tomatoes.

I considered a ragu or bolognese-type sauce, but then realized I'd been eating plenty of meat lately and not that much seafood. A spaghetti with clams therefore seemed like the perfect solution.

I didn't follow a recipe to make this, so many measurements are approximate. However, it was so good I definitely plan on making it again and, hence, thought I should share it.

Spaghetti with clams

1/2 lb. Spaghetti
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
1 lb. Littleneck Clams, scrubbed clean
Salt and Red Pepper Flakes
1/3 cup Clam Juice
5 Tomatoes, diced
Parsley Leaves

Set a pot of salted water to boil. When it has, add the Spaghetti and cook according to package instructions. Meanwhile, make the Sauce:

Heat Oil in a skillet. Add Garlic, Clams, Salt and Red Pepper Flakes to taste. Saute about 1 minute, add Clam Juice and stir. Cook about 1 minute, add Tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 2 minutes.

Drain pasta and toss with Clams and Tomato Sauce. Sprinkle Parsley on top. Serve.

recipe and Main Dish and Seafood

EoMEoTE #11: Hotel Fruit and Cookie

(sung to The Eagles' Hotel California)

In an over-heated room, no wind coming in
Cool smell of oranges and strawberries and gin
Suddenly inspration, a fruit salad to chill us
Oranges, strawberries, papaya
Won't even be a big fuss

Fruit all cut and in a bowl; drizzled amaretto
Marinate for an hour in the fridge let the flavors together go
Then I whipped up an egg white, added it to yogurt
Break cookies to make it an entry, and look what you have made:

Welcome to the Hotel Fruit and Cookie
Such a lovely place, such a lovely taste
Plenty to eat at the Hotel Fruit and Cookie
Any time of year you can find it here.

For this month's EoMEoTE, hosted by Dispensing Happiness, the theme is Seventies Song Lyrics, so this is my attempt. Needless to say, I'm no songwriter but Hotel California is a special song to me, so I decided that, if done in love, it was ok to butcher it just a little.

Fruit and Whipped Yogurt

1 Orange, peeled and sectioned
1/2 Papaya, peeled, seeded and diced
15-20 Strawberries, hulled and halved
4 tablespoons Amaretto
1 Egg White
1/4 cup Non-Fat Plain Yogurt
1/4 cup Cottage Cheese
4 Molasses Cookies, broken into quarters

Place Fruit in bowl and drizzle with Amaretto. Combine well. Marinate for at least 1 hour.

Whip Egg White. Beat together (you can use a blender) Yogurt and Cottage Cheese until thoroughly combined and curdles are diminished. Slowly add Egg White, continuing to beat as you do so.

Place Cookies on plate, top with Fruit and add a dollop of Yogurt-Cottage Cheese. Serve.




recipe and EoMEoTE #11 and Salad and Vegetarian and Dairy

IMBB #19: Vegan Feast

Sam, from Becks & Posh, is hosting this month's IMBB and the theme is to make something Vegan! Now, I'm a carnivore so I was a little nervous about this theme. A whole vegan meal? The simplest thing would be to make a salad, but a salad without meat or cheese just seemed rather boring to me. Finally, I decided to forget about it completely. I've been pretty bad about blogging lately, and a show I'm working on began tech yesterday, so I certainly have enough excuses. But then today tech ended early, one of the ladies I live with was feeling ill and I really needed to buy groceries. So I decided to make us a vegan feast with two dishes: A Tofu and Tomato Stir-fry and a Cherry Tomato Salad with Rice Wine Vinaigrette. While shopping, I was very careful to read all the ingredients and buy only Vegan-allowed foods. The result? A simple and healthy dinner, but not one I would eat every night. So thanks, Sam, for opening my eyes to what a nice change this can be, but I think in general I prefer a steak.

Cherry Tomato Salad

40 Cherry Tomatoes, halved
Green and Black Olives, pitted
2 Scallions, minced
Salt and Cracked Black Pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and drizzle with a little Rice Wine Vinaigrette. Toss and serve.

Rice Wine Vinaigrette

1/3 cup Canola Oil
1/3 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
3 cloves Garlic, minced

Whisk together until well-combined. Perfect drizzled delicate vegetables, cooked or raw.

Tofu and Tomatoes

Canola Oil to grease pan
1 Plum Tomato, diced
5 cloves Garlic, minced
2-3 teaspoons Olive Oil
2 packs Extra-Firm Tofu, cubed
Trader Joe's 21-Seasoning Salute (or favorite spice blend)
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
Salt and Cracked Black Pepper, to taste

Grease pan with Canola Oil. Saute Tomato and Garlic until Garlic is fully cooked and Tomato is soft. Remove from pan and reserve. Add Olive Oil to pan. Heat, then add Tofu Cubes. Saute until Tofu begins to color. Add 21-Seasoning Salute. Return Tomato mixture to pan. Add Soy Sauce and move tofu bits around so everything is well combined. Add Salt and Cracked Black Pepper to taste. Serve.

recipe and IMBB # 19 + Vegan

Salade Grecque

Shortly before I left San Francisco, I was suffering from a surfeit of lemons. My first trip to the astounding Trader Joe's my second day in San Fran, I bought a gigantic bag of lemons. I had used one or two, but it was time to base my dinner around the remaining ones. I also wanted something light and easy to prepare, since we were leaving early the next morning to drive south to LA.

After searching online for something that met all my requirements, I stumbled upon a recipe from Elise, of Simply Recipes fame. It was her Dad's Greek Salad Recipe and it looked light and refreshing, not to mention the fact that it included lemon juice. So, I made it. The result? Fabulous. Here's how I made it, staying close to Elise's Dad's recipe, but of course making my own adjustments, as per usual.

Salade Grecque

3 tbsp Olive Oil
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 clove Garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Cabernet Sauvignon Vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Dried Oregano
1 sprig Dill, chopped
Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
2 Plum Tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 small Zucchini, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 small Yellow Onion, peeled and chopped
1 small Red Bell Pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata Olives, chopped
Feta Cheese, crumbled, to taste (I used about 1/4 cup of Goat's Milk Feta)

Mix together Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, Garlic, Vinegar, Oregano and Dill until well combined. Season to taste with Salt and Black Pepper. Let rest while preparing Salad. Before serving, give Dressing a final mix before serving.

Toss Tomatoes, Zucchini, Onion, Pepper and Olives together in a bowl. Add dressing. Sprinkle with Feta Cheese and serve.

recipe + Vegetarian + Salad

Quesadillas d'aioli, tomates et mozzarella

Three beauties of one gender.
Put eggs in the blender--
Too much oil, we need a mender!
You can add another yolk,
You can make a joke.
You can sip a glass of Coke
Or call your folks
And give a poke.
Add some tomatoes and some cheese
And broil it in the oven, please.

And voila my Doctor Seuss parody which the crazy Cook Sister! requested for this month's EoMEoTE. Unfortunately, we didn't find a mender for my liquidy aioli, so we drizzled it on our tortillas instead of smearing it on like mayonnaise. They were still delicious!

Next time, I would use one lemon, instead of two and considerably less olive oil. I have included the recipe I believe would work perfectly.

Quesadillas d'aioli, tomates et mozzarella

Aioli

3 Egg Yolks
1 cup Olive Oil
Juice of 1 Lemon
4 cloves Garlic, peeled
Salt and Cracked Black Pepper

Beat Egg Yolks in blender. If possible, depending on your blender, add Olive Oil while blender is on. If not, add it slowly, combining it and the Egg Yolks fully before adding more. When thick, add Lemon Juice and Garlic. Beat again, until Garlic is finely chopped. Season to taste with Salt and Pepper.

Quesadillas d'aioli, tomates et mozarella

8 Whole Wheat Tortillas
Aioli
4 Roma Tomatoes, chopped
Generous amount Mozarella, broken into 20 hunks
Salt and Cracked Black Pepper

Pre-heat broiler. Spread 4 Tortillas with Aioli. Place Tomatoes on top, spreading around evenly. Add 5 pieces of Mozzarella to each Tortilla. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. Top each with another Tortilla. Broil for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve warm.

recipe + EoMEoTE + Vegetarian

Belated IMBB: Fried Eggplant with Avgolemono Sauce

I will not miss another blogging event. I will not miss another blogging event. My excuse? I moved. Again. This time to sunny Southern California and I won't be leaving, except to go to New York, until May. So this is the last time I can use that excuse for almost a year. Period.

The worst part is, I participated in At Our Table's IMBB (Summer's Flying, Let's Get Frying!) in San Francisco! Or, at least, I made a dish for it. It was ridiculously simple and quite good. I had read about using the Greek soup, Avgolemono, as a sauce for vegetables all over the internet and I was anxious to try it out myself. So I fried some eggplant and poured it on. It was creamy, refreshing and delicious. I'm sure the sauce would be just as good with other foods as well, such as artichokes or even chicken breasts.

Fried Eggplant with Avgolemono Sauce

Avgolemono Sauce

1 cup Chicken Stock
2/3 tablespoon Cornflour
Water
3 Eggs
Juice of 1 Lemon

In a saucepan, bring Chicken Stock to a boil. Mix Cornflour in a cup with just enough Water to make it smooth. Add to Stock, stirring as it thickens.

In a bowl, beat Eggs until fluffy and mixture is all one color.

Add the Lemon Juice and boiling Chicken Stock. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly. Be sure it does not boil.

Prepare the Eggplant:

Fried Eggplant

1 Egg, beaten
Salt and Black Pepper
Oil for frying
1 Eggplant, sliced

Mix Egg in a bowl with Salt and Black Pepper to taste. Heat Oil in frying pan over high heat. Dip Eggplant slices in Egg mixture and fry in Oil until crispy.

To Assemble:

Place Fried Eggplant on plate and drizzle with Avgolemono Sauce.

Serves 2 as a side dish.

Update: Check out Linda's fabulous Round-up!

IMBB #18 + Vegetarian + Recipe

Tournedos of beef with prosciutto and artichoke hearts

When I visit a new city, I often like to buy a cookbook as a souvenir. This cookbook can have only a handful of recipes, or a hundred; it can have pictures, or not; it can be by a famous chef or a collection of housewives. The only rule is that it be recipes from that city (or country).

One of my first days in San Francisco, one of the ladies I'll live with next year, the delightful Miss Julie, took me to a used bookstore where we promptly kneeled on the floor reading cookbooks. After flipping through every one with "California" or "San Francisco" anywhere on the front cover, I finally selected what is thus far proving itself to be a very useful cookbook, the only one I have with me right now since I drove cross-country without a single cookbok (shocking, isn't it?). Anyway, this cookbook is called: A Taste of San Francisco. Published by The San Francisco Symphony, it is a collection of recipes from the best restaurants of the Bay Area. What's interesting is that each restaurant has about three recipes--a starter, main dish and dessert--so you can make, say, a Chez Panisse meal one night.

The first recipe I decided to make from this book (even though I changed a few things as is my way) was based on one from The Blue Fox, since closed. I tweaked the recipe a fair amount, as I always do, and what follows is my version. I'm sure the original is delicious as well.

Tournedos of beef with prosciutto and artichoke hearts

.70 lb Beef Tenderloin
1/2 tablespoon Capers
Oil for skillet
1/2 bunch Scallions, chopped
3 slices Prosciutto, cut into strips
4 Artichoke Hearts, quartered

1/2 + 1/4 cup Chicken Broth
Several stalks Cilantro, chopped
Salt and Black Pepper

Cut Beef into 1" cubes. Soak Capers in a small bowl of cold water to rinse off brine or salt from jar.

Heat Oil in medium skillet so it coats bottom. Saute Beef, turning frequently, until browned. If you like your meat pink inside, transfer to a plate and keep warm, otherwise continue cooking a little longer. (You can also cut the meat into smaller pieces and then cook it for shorter.) Once Meat is removed from pan, add Scallions and Prosciutto to pan. Fry quickly over high heat, then add Artichoke Hearts, Stock, drained Capers, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until liquid in the pan has thickened to a pan sauce.

Return Beef to pan, add Cilantro, Black Pepper and Salt, if needed (keep in mind--Capers and Prosciutto are quite salty in their own right). Mix everything together and serve.

Moules grilles sur un lit d'onions

Because we were traveling and didn't have internet access, I was unable to participate in Blog appetit #4: Moules et Onions. Or, rather, I came up with and made a dish the night before leaving New York, but never got around to writing it up. Today, I was making a desperate attempt to organize the pictures on my computer and stumbled across this one.

When I think of summer food, I always think of two things: the beachy smell of salt air and barbecue. This is probably because I spent many of my summers growing up in Long Beach, Long Island, visiting my maternal grandparents, aunt, uncles and cousins. Very often we would spend a day at the beach and then head over to my aunt and uncle's for barbecue. Of course, our barbecues always consisted of hamburgers, hot dogs and hunks of chicken, with occasional grilled red peppers, portabello mushrooms or onions. Nothing gourmet, but the whole family was together and enjoying ourselves and that was the most important thing.

Before I left New York, the weather was sticky and I would have given anything to head out to the beach for a day. Since that was impossible, I decided to bring the beach to me. Seafood, especially fresh mussels, always smell like the ocean to me, with their salty freshness. I had recently read about grilling them and was curious about the taste, but I had no grill. Instead, I broiled them for a few minutes and served them on a bed of sweet onions. The result? A light, painless, refreshing summer meal.

Moules grilles sur un lit d'onions

Moules grilles

2 pounds Mussels
Juice of 1 Lemon

Pre-heat broiler. Clean Mussels, under cold water, being sure to remove all barnacles from the surface. Discard any with cracked shells or that do not close even when tapped. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place Mussels on top, with as much space between them as possible. Broil for 5-8 minutes, until all are opened. Carefully (the shells will be very hot!) remove meat from shells and place on Onion Salad. Squeeze generous amounts of Lemon Juice on top.

Onion Salad

1 Sweet Onion
Salt and Pepper
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1/2 teaspoon Honey

Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Hermione's Egg Custard Pie

As usual, Harry was spending the summer with the Weasleys at the Burrow. Hermione had joined them all for the weekend and they were hungry and anxious for a snack. Unfortunately, however, Mrs. Weasley was not at home and Harry, Ron and Hermione were not yet allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts. They asked Mr. Weasley to make them a snack with magic, but he had another idea. He had just discovered a cache of muggle kitchen supplies and wanted to try them out--an electric egg beater, a stove, a refrigerator and an oven. He brought the appliances in and turned to Harry and Hermione for help.

Luckily, Hermione knew her family's recipe for egg custard pie by heart. Better yet, it used all four tools. She divided up the recipe and gave everyone a job. But no one knew how to make a pie crust! So Mr. Weasley created one with magic.

After several extra eggs flew onto the floor (Mr. Weasley wasn't used to cracking them by hand and refused to use magic to help him), they finally got the pie into the oven and then into the refrigerator to chill. And when Mrs. Weasley came home and they all tasted it together, even she was impressed by how good it was!

Update: Jeanne has posted a specatcular round-up! Check it out!

Hermione's Egg Custard Pie

1 flakey Pie Crust (created by magic or otherwise)
4 Large Eggs + 1 Yolk
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 cups Milk

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Brush Pie crust with Egg Yolk and put in oven for 10 minutes. If preparing the custard takes more time to make, keep crust in oven for longer; it should be warm when you pour the custard in.

Beat Eggs with an electric mixer until frothy. Add Salt, Sugar and Vanilla Extract and mix until well-combined. Heat Milk on stove until simmering. Pour it into Egg mixture and mix. Pour the new mixture into the warm Pie Crust and place it in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, until center of pie has a gelatin-like consistency. It will harden more as it chills.

Let Pie cool, then chill in refrigerator. Serve chilled.

IMBB 17: Green Tea Dumplings

It's that time again: Is My Blog Burning? that is. This month's theme, hosted by the creative A La Cuisine!, is tasteTea, meaning any dish, either a food or a drink, that involves tea and is tasty. I was thinking of coming up with my own interesting Ice Tea recipe, but I really wanted to try cooking with tea. I also didn't really want to make a dessert since I often have bad luck with baking. This of course led me on a hunt through all my cookbooks searching for a recipe that used tea.

Unfortunately, my search only turned up some tips on brewing the perfect cuppa. After browsing around on the internet for some time, I kept getting routed back to a cookbook called Eat Tea, so I decided to head over to Barnes & Noble to check it out. To make a long story short, I bought it.

After poring through all the recipes, I decided on the Green Tea Dumplings, especially as I've been on an Asian food kick lately. I followed the recipe more or less, substituting turkey for pork in the filling because I wanted to share them with Mom who doesn't eat mammals. I also kept the fillings in the fridge overnight where the flavors combined and deepened. And they tasted even better fried.

Green Tea Dumplings

Dough
2 1/4 cups Hot Water
1 tablespoon finely ground Green Tea Leaves (easiest in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle)
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
2 pounds Flour

Filling
1 1/2 pounds ground Turkey (or Pork)
1 head Napa Cabbage, cored and finely chopped
1 Egg, beaten
3 Shallots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Green Tea Leaves
2 tablespoons Ginger, minced
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons Sesame Oil

For the Dough: Combine Water, Tea, Brown Sugar and Flour in a blender and mix into a ball of smooth dough. Place in a bowl, cover and let rest 30 minutes.

For the filling: While the dough is resting, mix together the Turkey, Napa Cabbage, Egg, Shallots, Tea, Ginger, Salt and Pepper, Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil in another bowl. Cook a small amount in a skillet to check the seasonings.

Cut the dough into small pieces and roll it out into circles on a floured board. Be sure to roll it out very thinly or else you will end up with monster-sized doughy dumplings (which can be very good as well).

Place 1 heaping tablespoon of Filling on the dough and fold it up, crimping the edges.

Boil the dumplings in salted water for 8 minutes, the drain on paper towels. If you like, heat the oil in a skillet and fry the dumplings on both sides. Serve with Dipping Sauce. Makes about 50 dumplings.

Le Madeleine

Taking advantage of being back in NYC, a few nights ago, the Boy and I went out to dinner and the theatre. (Or, rather, the theatre and dinner so we could enjoy our meal at a more leisurely pace rather than wolfing it down so as to get to the show on-time.) We saw Harvey Fierstein in Fiddler on the Roof, a revival that I cannot recommend enough. Fiddler has always been one of my favorite musicals and seeing it on Broadway, with such a talented actor was a delight. Fierstein carries the whole show an