Crazy for Cover Photos

Posted by Kathryn @ 4:02 PM

The August Edition of Gourmet has a seductive picture on the front. Cheesecake with minted blackberries and a toffee inspired crust. My sister and I simply had to make it. My husband sighed a bit because he is not a big fan of cheesecake or blackberries, but after trying the result he declared it the best cheesecake he had ever had and thought the blackberries made the whole recipe very balanced. I must say I agree!

The Crust:
3/4 stick butter ( I would recommend using salted here ... toffee needs a bit of salt to bring out the best flavor)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds

Filling
3-8oz packages of cream cheese
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tb flour
1/4 cup cream or half and half
3 large eggs

350 degree oven. Line a 9x9 pan with foil in two directions. Grease the foil. Beat Butter and sugar together, then add flour and almonds. Press in prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until brown. Cool crust completely in the pan.

Some time later preheat the oven to 325, Beat together cream cheese and sugar and flour. When completely combined add the cream and then the eggs. Pour into the crust. Bake in a hot water bath for 40-45 minutes until set 1 1/2 inches from edge but center still has a wobble. Transfer pan to a rack and let cool for 2 hours. Then chill in fridge. Lift cheesecake out by the foil then cut into squares.

Top squares with 3 small packages of blackberries that have macerated in the juice of one lime, 2 tb sugar, and 1 tb finely chopped mint.

Tags: blackberries, cheesecake,

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Recipe,

What to do with all of the tomatoes!

Posted by Kathryn @ 3:46 PM

It is that time of year when I am perpetually overwhelmed by my CSA box. I am currently running out of ideas for tomatoes since I don't really have the space for freezing a bunch of sauce... and I hesitate to do a lot of canning in my non air conditioned kitchen. So right now I am on a bit of a tomato salad kick and a recent magazine offered yet another rendition! Grilled Watermelon and Tomato Salad. It is a pretty refreshing salad. I had a yellow watermelon which against the red and green heirloom tomatoes was simply gorgeous. Next time I might pass on the watercress though!

1 lb of Watermelon... Remove rind, cut into 1/2 inch slices in a convenient size for grilling
Olive Oil for Brushing
6 small tomatoes of various colors quartered
2 tsp sweet vinegar ( recipe called for raspberry, I used balsamic)
1/2 cup plain yogurt ( recipe called for greek, I was out so I just used whole milk yogurt)
2 tsp sherry vinegar
1 1/2 cups watercress ( taste the water cress if mild use this amount, if peppery you may want less)
1/4 cup finely chopped basil

Grill the watermelon ( brushed on one side with olive oil) for 2-3 minutes over direct heat on a medium hot grill.
Cut watermelon in 1 inch pieces. Toss tomatoes in sweet vinegar along with salt and pepper. Let macerate for a few minutes. Whisk together yogurt, sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper. Top the waltermellon and tomatoes (with juices) with watercress and basil and a dollop of dressing.

Eat immediately (the watermelon does not taste as good the second day). The result is a lightly smoky sweet salad which is a good foil to spicy food.

Tags: grill, tomatoes, watermelon,

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Recipe,

What to do with Cabbage

Posted by Kathryn @ 12:18 PM

So as it is CSA season, I frequently end up with one particular vegetable piling up over a couple of weeks. It isn't that I don't like Cabbage, it is more that it is one of the few early summer veggies that will last a while in the fridge and the majority of my favorite recipes for cabbage are really hot more wintry fare. Eventually I get too much of it and something must be done!

So whenever I have a vegetable without a dish I spend some quality time flipping through cookbooks for ideas. One struck my fancy for cabbage. Cabbage Gratin from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for everyone. After I made it, I decided it was a true winner... unfortunately I don't have any good pictures because we ate it too fast! The end result is a nutty almost broccoli frittata flavor ( not surprising considering they are the same family). Next time I might try a higher ratio of cream/milk to egg so that it is creamier, but that would just be for the sake of experimentation... the casserole was gorgeous as it was.

Butter and freshly grated Parmesan for the dish
1 1/2 pounds cabbage ( I used a mix of green varieties) diced into 2 inch squares
1/3 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup creme fraiche or cream ( I used some butter since I had neither on hand)
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
3 eggs
3 tb parsley
salt and pepper
I also tossed in some ground mustard and some leftover cheddar

Preheat the oven to 375. Butter the dish and coat with parmesan. Boil cabbage for 5 minutes in salted water. drain pressing out as much water as possible. Whisk remaining ingredients together and then add cabbage. Bake for 50 minutes until firm and lightly brown.

Tags: Cabbage Gratin,

Filed Under: Cheap Eats, In the Kitchen, Recipe, Recommendations,

Coffee Break Special- Lamination

Posted by Kathryn @ 11:29 AM

So a few weeks too late, I finally got around to making the Daring Bakers Challenge. I had never made a laminated dough like a puff pastry or danish, so it was a bit intimidating at first, but the results of all of my efforts were well worth it. Unfortunately, many of these recipes are simply oversized for our two person household, so I put off the construction of the braid until the in-laws were in town. My father in law love cherries so I knew I really needed a good cherry filling. On the other hand my mother in law doesn't care for cooked fruit. Finally, my husband is totally addicted to Wisconsin almond flavored kringles (based of a similar laminated dough concept). Unfortunately these delectable pastries are just not readily available in Pittsburgh, so I thought that this was an opportunity to please them all. I made almond filling and cherry filling. All in all I made 3 braids from the recipe and learned a lot along the way about how much filling is too much or too oozy.

For the almond filling I perused several recipes online and decided to wing it. I mixed ground almonds with brown sugar cinnamon, salt (don't skimp on the salt it really helps give the dish nuttiness), a dash of almond extract, and eggwhites. I started with about 2 cups of whole almonds and about one cup of sugar. Since I wasn't going to use this right away I left out the egg whites until right before filling. I used about 4 egg whites for this amount of almonds, but the filling had a tendency to escape the confines of the braid, so for the future I would stick to no more than 3 egg whites and make sure to chill really well before braiding.

For the cherry filling I tried two methods,

Method one - pitt bing cherries and cut in half
method two- pitt bing cherries, cut in half, at some sweet cherry jam, let set in fridge

Out of these methods, the first created a much more desirable result. The cherries cooked in the braid tasted jammy without oozing. The second method create tons of overflow from the braid... which when mixed with the almond mixture was crisp and tasty, but meant that the bread did not rise as nicely and had a few cherry colored blemishes.

So I made plain almond braids and almond cherry braids. I loved both, but as it is summer I would strongly suggest using the uncooked bing cherries.

DOUGH (detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (I used instant yeast.)
1/2 cup (250 mil) whole milk
1/3 cup (58 grams) sugar
zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (I used green cardamom pods and whizzed the seeds in a coffee grinder.)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped- I didn't have this, so I just added more vanilla extract
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup (125 mil) fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups (390 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

BUTTER BLOCK (beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks, 220 grams) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup (30 grams) all-purpose flour

DOUGH: In the bowl of the stand mixer, stir together the milk and yeast with the paddle attachment. Slowly add the sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. BEURRAGE: In the bowl of the stand mixer, mix the butter and flour using the paddle attachment. Beat at medium speed for about 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and beat for another minute, until the mixture is smooth and free of lumps. Set aside at room temperature.

4. BUTTER BLOCK: After the dough has chilled for 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the dough to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

6. Repeat folding two more times, refrigerating for 30 minutes in between.

7. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used.

The fun part Assembly!

3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface (and on top of your parchment paper, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, 1/4-inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet. (Don’t forget to move the rolled dough to the baking sheet!)

4. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.

5. Spoon the filling down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps,” fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. You can trim any excess dough but as we like bread around here i just tucked in the ends which meant one end was always breadier than the rest of the braid.

6. Brush the egg wash over the braid.

7. Spray some cooking spray on a piece of plastic wrap, and cover the dough with the sprayed side down. Proof at room temperature for about 2 hours, until the dough has doubled and is light to the touch. Don't forget the cooking spray or the braid will look completely mangled upon plastic removal. Luckily the egg wash covered up much of my error on the first braid

8. Preheat oven to 400º F

9. Remove the plastic. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan and reduce heat to 350º F. Continue baking for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the bread is a deep, golden brown. Remove to a wire rack and allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

10. Wrap well in plastic to store

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Filed Under: Daring Bakers, In the Kitchen, Recipe, Recommendations,

Lentils go Midwest

Posted by Kathryn @ 11:12 AM

So this past weekend I wanted to do a BBQ because the weather was so nice. This Texan cannot resist the opportunity to sear meat on a grill, but in this instance many of my guests followed a vegetarian diet, avoided milk products, or had other dietary restrictions. So I decided to change up the traditional Chicago slider to fit their needs a bit better! So here comes the lentil slider. It looks suspiciously like a falafel on a small bun, but it has a differently delicious texture/flavor combo.

Zest and Juice of one lemon
6 scallions chopped
3/4 of a package of lentils cooked through
2/3 of a baguette or other bread (check the ingredients for milk products or eggs) whole wheat works nicely
Salt
Ground Pepper
1/4 cup mint
1/4 cup parsley
1-2 tsp cumin
2 tsp of red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground coriander seed
2 tsp of cornstarch in 2 tb of water or an egg
3 TB olive oil

Blitz the bread in a food processor. Add the additional ingredients and blend to a paste (don't loose all of the lentil texture, but if you are using cornstarch rather than egg it will need to be more pureed so that the patties don't fall apart. Heat a skillet with additional olive oil and roll1-2 tb quantities of the puree into balls. Fry each patty until golden brown on both sides. Place on a tiny roll and serve with tahini or yogurt with mint and lemon zest as toppings.

The patties are also excellent on a salad. I know it is CSA time so many people are trying to come up with new ways to spice up lettuce and this is a great one!

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Filed Under: Cheap Eats, In the Kitchen, Recipe,

Notes from the BBQ

Posted by The Husband @ 1:25 PM

Whoa. That month flew by...apologies for the lack of updates. Life gets to be, well, life.

This past weekend we hosted an open house/BBQ for friends and acquaintances. Kathryn and her sister made copious amounts of great food (more on that to come), and I helped by grilling a couple things out back.

One item seemed to be a hit, and I wanted to pass it on here: sangria. It's incredibly easy to make, and is a perfect companion to Summery foods.

Here's the recipe as I used it:

• 1/2 Cup Orange juice
• 1/4 Cup Rose's Lime Juice*
• 1/4 Cup Sugar*
• 750ml of dry red wine -- We used a zinfandel
• Cinnamon, cloves
• Sliced/Chopped fruit

*Yes, this is cheating a bit. We were a bit short on fresh limes. Rose's is sweetened, which adds a lot more sugar to the recipe than you'll find other places. I ended up cutting down on the regular sugar to compensate. We also added a bit more wine than just the one 750ml bottle to reduce the orange flavor.

Mix the OJ, the Rose's and the wine together with the sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Sprinkle the cinnamon and throw in the cloves. Cut up some oranges, limes, grapes, apples, or whatever suits your mood and toss it in. Let the whole mixture chill for several hours.

Serve cold, over ice. Make sure to get a generous portion of the saturated fruit into the mix. Makes you feel healthy while downing the vino...

Tags: Bar, cocktailing, drinks, sangria,

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