Merry Christmas, kitchen!

As promised, here's the rundown of the great Christmas gifts I received this year -- nearly all to benefit my new kitchen! A beautiful candy/dessert bowl, french-style rolling pin (can FINALLY throw out that old wine bottle!!), various kitchen tools, new knives (and a knife technique course), and 8 bowls to match the plates my parents bought me for my birthday last year. I really do feel lucky to have such amazing friends and family to be supporting my cooking in 2010!! a BIG thank you to you all.

 

 

My grandmother also gave me some money for Christmas, and this is what I'm ordering once we get back to Washington:

A few notes on food-related gifts:

• Gifts for food people can generally be grouped into two categories: actual food-things, and cooking things. Some cooks might be picky about tools for his or her kitchen - though I'm still in the process of setting up my first kitchen, so I love all kinds of tools! Serious cooks, from what I can tell, tend to shy away from things that can only be used for one particular thing (garlic peelers, pineapple corers, etc) or things that are bulky to store (waffle makers, blenders, etc.)
• Another great gift is something that looks unique that can be used for serving: relish dishes, appetizer plates, bowls, serving spoons or tongs, sugar bowls, cream pitchers, salt/pepper shakers, etc. Places like Marshalls or Homegoods make these available at really great prices. They're also great because they don't necessarily have to match anything else at the table. 
• Actual food items are a great idea for folks cooking on a budget -- this can range from a simple grocery store gift card (maybe a place they might not usually be able to shop - cheese shops, Whole Foods, Kowalskis) to higher end ingredients your cook might not normally buy for him or herself: fancy olive oil (or other flavored oils: walnut, truffle, sunflower seed, etc), spreads and jams, peppercorns, dried mushrooms.
• And a great standby? Kitchen towels. I've received some fantastic dish towels from people -- a gift you use everyday, and rarely think to buy nice ones for yourself. Everywhere from Target to Williams Sonoma to Anthropologie sell a range of beautiful prints, patterns, and a variety of textures. 
  

Dreaming? of putting all of my new kitchen gear to use in the New Year!

#10in10 update: I started food journaling again - writing down everything that I eat, and the exercise I've done, each day as a strategy for the #10in10 challenge, hosted by Recipe Girl. Hopefully this will help me to think about everything that goes into my mouth throughout the day, and consider why I'm eating them!

New Year, New Kitchen

This isn't the big Christmas goodies post (though it's coming!), but more a year-end round up of some of my thoughts on cooking and eating from this year.

I started this blog to try my hand at a little food writing - which I'm finding isn't coming all that naturally. I have a slightly disheveled style to cooking (as I rarely follow recipes, and tend to measure things in handfuls), which translates into non-sensical rambling when I try to write it out.

But, I'm finding that it's helpful to read a ton of other blogs -- I've recently started reading Amateur Gourmet, The Recipe Girl, The Pioneer Woman and A Tiger in the Kitchen, in addition to some great friend blogs.

I also just like to keep a record of this time -- stumbling through recipes and new techniques, building up my repetoire, and of course, stocking my first "real" kitchen.

So, here's a quick list of things that stick out in my mind from cooking in 2009:
* pâte-à-choux became a game changer for me. The New York Times did a major post on how easy it is to make in summer 2008, but it took me until last year to really start using it. I started easy, with some cream puffs last winter, and ended the year with some beautiful cheese gougeres.

* Soups and stews were new territory, when I branched out beyond the world of chili. I came up with a great chicken tortilla soup (after moving from Washington and missing Eddington's for lunch!), tried seafood stew to go over quinoa, and am really excited to try this Potato Leek soup in 2010. I'm debating whether or not an immersion blender is a worthwhile purchase.

* Pitas (and bread in general) became almost a hobby during the stay in Washington. From my grandmother's Irish Soda Bread, to my old standby (half-wheat artisan loaf) to green onion flatbread, Thanksgiving rolls, and of course, pitas. I'm still amazed at how easy it is to make bread from scratch -- even if you don't have a stand-mixer with a dough hook, or even a loaf pan.

* Ethnic grocery stores really changed the way I shop and cook -- for the better. Rather than relying on pasta (because it's 10 for $10), I was able to get a lot more creative with fresh meat and produce, since I wasn't over-paying for it at the "traditional" market. I'm excited to be even closer to an H-Mart in our new apartment!

Dreaming? of a great year for cooking - 2010. A new kitchen, a knife technique class (amazing xmas gift!) and I'm also taking part in a 10-week shape up hosted by The Recipe Girl.

Snowed in

So, for those who haven't heard, the entire East Coast got hammered with a snowstorm this weekend. In hindsight, it made me wish I had done a full grocery shopping this week. Could have done some very serious baking.

Instead, two things came of the weekend: delicious onion flatbread and homemade pasta sauce.

Green onions are one of those great things to keep in the house, and they are 5 for $1 at the Korean market I shop at, so I always have a ton around. This bread is the cheapest, easiest way I have found to put those onions to good use (ham and leek quiche, subbing the onions for leeks is the other).

Recipe: green onion flat bread (2)

3 c. all purpose flour

2 c hot water

pinch of salt

olive oil

2-4 bunches of green onions cut into tiny pieces (I use scissors), divided

Combine flour, salt and water in mixing bowl until a dough forms. It shouldn't be too sticky, add more flour if needed. Cover with a towel, or invert bowl over dough for 30-45 mins. Knead gently on a floured surface and roll into 2 large circles (or round-ish shapes).

Press your fingers into the dough to make tiny wells. Drizzle or brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and half the green onions on each. Fold the ends in (to make 3 layers), brush top with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake at 350 for 20 mins or until golden brown.

Snowed in Pasta Sauce -- I didn't have everything I wanted for this, but it turned out REALLY well.

1 can diced tomatoes (wish I had had 2 cans or a big can)

1/2 can plain tomato sauce

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp red chili flakes

6-8 cloves garlic, rough chop

salt and pepper

splash of white wine

drizzle of olive oil

meatballs or italian sausage

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan and simmer for 3-4 hours. I also added 1 small can of tomato paste, 1 can full of water (the small can) and 1 can of white wine when I added the meatballs, since it didn't look like enough sauce.

The result was awesome, full bodied sauce (the wine, meat and chili flakes REALLY developed over the afternoon) that was super easy to make, and helped clear down my pantry a little. :)

Sadly no photos, since we scarfed it down pretty quickly!

Next up? Giant gougeres, a la Serious Eats, once I get home for Christmas!!

Dreaming? of my new kitchen! Moving in January.

 

Christmas cookies

Jake and I had our third annual christmas cookie baking this weekend, with some mixed results.

Being that we're still in my "temporary" kitchen from the summer internship situation, we didn't have any cookie cutters.

Also, because of my big love for red velvet cakes and cupcakes, I had a ton of blue, green and yellow food coloring, but no red. So, mostly, we've just been icing them white or green as we get hungry.

 So, some of our cookies are holiday-festive shapes, such as the attempted freehand gingerbread men, the gift boxes, and some are just kind of weird odd shapes. Oh well.

We also had a great pasta dinner tonight, recipe below. Sadly, I forgot to grab a picture of it before we boxed up the leftovers for lunches!

This made a TON. Very excited about the left overs!!

Creamy ham and spinach pasta

1 box gemeli or rotini -- something with grooves to catch the sauce

1 box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of all liquid

3 cloves garlic, minced (or about 2 heaping tsp)

1/3-1/2 c onion, minced (to your liking)

3/4 c sliced ham (I used deli ham, cut into ribbons - you could use pancetta if you wanted to get fancy)

black pepper

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp red chilli flakes

splash of white wine (optional)

olive oil

3 TBS butter

3-5 TBS flour

1 pint half and half, plus a few TBS milk (opt)

1/3-1/2 c shredded or grated parmesan

2-3 TBS mozzarella (optional) for melting

Boil pasta to al dente (don't over cook) in salted water

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute garlic, onion and ham in the olive oil. Season with pepper, chilli flakes and nutmeg. Mix in white wine and allow to reduce.

Melt butter into the mix, and flour lightly. Combine until thickens slightly. Mix in spinach, half and half and cheese. Add more flour if needed.

Reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Toss pasta directly into the sauce and stir to coat. Mix in shredded mozzarella if using. Serve with fresh cracked pepper and parsley to garnish.

Dreaming? of Kitchenaid mixers - so many of which can be found on major christmas sales, $100 or more off the list price. Alas, it would not radically change the way I cook, I do not have $200 for a mixer, nor have I any where to store it. Maybe next year. :)

Weekend fun

Took my first swing at holiday baking this weekend after seeing a great post by a friend on caramel making.

I used her recipe exactly, but my candy thermometer appears to have lied to me. Hers turned out soft and chewy, from what I can tell. But mine came out a bit like those old fashioned Sugar Daddy candies (which my mother always swore would crack your teeth in two).

But, the hard candy product did save me the challenge of attempting to wrap the little buggers. It also created the challenge of how to best break them down (as when I turned out the caramel, it was a solid, un-cuttable brick).

Best kitchen tool I own is my ice cream scooper:

Which I used as a hammer and chiseled with a kitchen knife until the aforementioned bite sized pieces were born.

Tonight, pitas were up again. Jake and I stopped for some late night shwarma the other night and ended up with far too much hummus.

The best solution, of course, being to bake lots and lots of pitas! These were fried up in skillets over medium heat (rather than the faux-grilling method used in the past). The resulting pita has a harder bottom (nice though, not unlike a large cracker) and still a soft top.

Still using my wine bottle ($6, Target) as a rolling pin for these guys

Mmm pitas. Tasty

Thanksgiving with the fam

OK, so ever since my parents moved our family away from New Jersey, it's always just been the four of us at Thanksgiving -- not very exciting.

But since I now live in Washington, a (usually) 4-hr drive up the coast back to NJ, I came up here for Thanksgiving and had the big holiday with my mom's family for the first time in, probably 15 or so years.

Last night we did a bunch of the prep work, made my aunt's soup, and started a bunch of the side dishes. Lots of fun, but I also learned that I am allergic to potato peels (I usually only make the skin-on red potatoes) -- as my palms swelled up to double their size, itched, burned and were bright red after we peeled the 10 lbs!!

Butternut squash soup

Sweet potatoes (SOOOOO good)

Brussels sprouts (same recipe as from intern thanksgiving!) - these were a HUGE hit with my family. I was really surprised!

Today there was a lot less to do, so I made some quick rolls - VERY easy recipe (see below), which were also a big hit

 

I also got put in charge of the mashed potatoes... and got to play with my aunt's Kitchen aid!! :-)

MMMM so many potatoes!

Thanksgiving feast.

In short, everything was DELICIOUS, and I had a blast with my family.

OK, here's the recipe for the rolls:

In a bowl, mix 1 package rapid action yeast, 2 TBS sugar, 1 c milk mixed with 1 c water heated to luke warm (about 120 degrees -- not too hot, do not kill yeast). Mix well, set aside in a warm place for 8-10 mins until foam appears.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together 5 c. flour (you can use whatever kind you like, I used good old All Purpose White), a tsp of salt, and a tsp season salt (if you like). Make a well, and pour the warm yeast mixture in. If the yeast doesn't foam, it's dead or you killed it. Start this step over.

Mix together until a shaggy dough starts to form. Drizzle up to 4 TBS olive oil into the mix, until all flour is combined. Turn out onto a well floured surface and knead for 10 mins. Return to well oiled bowl and over with damp tea towel.

Allow to proof for up to an hour (longer, if you are using slow yeast, or in a cold kitchen). Dough should be roughly double in size. Punch down (exactly what it sounds like), knead again briefly, then pull small sections (roughly the size of a golfball, I guess), and form a smooth, rectangle or finger shape (try to have as few seams as possible).

Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt. 

Bake 12-15 mins at 350 degrees

Irish Soda Bread

In celebration of finally being employed (and in an attempt to use up the rest of a HUGE bottle of buttermilk) I made my grandmother's Irish soda bread (no raisins) last night and brought it to work, where it was (not surprisingly -- they love food at work) a huge hit.

This is a REALLY good recipe for using up the rest of the bottle of buttermilk (my two other recipes require less than 1 c), and it really shines through in the flavor. This bread has an amazing flavor and is very dense.

I'm not entirely certain what "makes" Soda bread soda bread -- probably the fact that it's leavened with baking soda, rather than yeast. We also noted, at work, it's incredibly density -- either good for surviving those Irish famines or soaking up the large quantities of beer on St. Pat's (one of my favorite holidays).

Nan's Irish Soda Bread:
4 c white flour
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp salt
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1/4 stick  butter broken into tiny pieces
optional: 1 c soaked raisins (I never use these -- always had to pick them out as a kid)

1 2/3 c buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix the first 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix the wet ingredients separately and add slowly to the flour mixture. Knead gently and shape into a large round loaf.

Bake on an oiled cookie sheet, cut a 4" X on the top, and brush with beaten egg.

Bake 60-70 mins at 350 F

Serve with butter and enjoy!

Pudding pie update

So, unfortunately there are no photos, as I ate the evidence, but I'm officially throwing in the towel on chocolate pudding pie.

I had some leftover pudding yesterday (and really needed to use the bowl for other things) so I threw the rest of the graham cracker crumbs into a container with the pudding and topped with the the leftover whipped cream (again, needed the container) and popped it back into the fridge.

HELLO chocolate pudding-graham-whip-yummy parfait of delight. Insanely easier to make. More graham crumbs than the crust meant an added crunch.

I'm in love with this alternative route to pudding-pie goodness.

Dreaming? of a world where whipped cream + chocolate pudding = 0 calories

Intern Thanksgiving

Wow... been gone a while (out of town last week on a business trip)

Last night, I gathered with some friends from a summer 08 internship in Minneapolis, and we had our own version of Thanksgiving. It was an entirely delicious ordeal, with enough food to feed all six of us twice and then some, and we're already planning for Christmas.

I volunteered to make a chocolate pudding pie - not fancy in the slightest, but one of my childhood favorites, brussel sprouts and garlic mashed potatoes.

 

 Proof I smashed my own graham crackers to make the graham cracker crust.

The homemade, and extremely crumbly crust

Whisk the pudding like crazy!!

The finished product cooling. We stuck it in the freezer during dinner when we got to the hostess' place. It was perfect by the time we pulled it out later, and topped with homemade whipped cream.

Chocolate pudding pie with graham cracker crust and whipped cream:

1 large packet (or 2 small) chocolate pudding - the kind you have to cook

3 cups milk or half and half

* cook pudding according to directions on the package, cool

2 c of crumbled graham crackers (plus more if needed -- I used about 1 1/2 packets of grahams, or half the box)

4-6 TBS of butter (I ran out of butter, and subbed in a little water and Pam spray)

1/4 c. sugar

pinch of cinnamon

*grease or spray a pie plate or cake tin

*pour in the measured graham cracker crumbs, mix with the sugar and butter

*use your fingers to press down, and build up the sides of the crust. You may need to add up to half a cup more crumbs/butter mix

*bake in a preheated oven at 300F for about 5 mins (check to ensure it isn't burning), but up to 8-10 mins.

*Cool, then fill with pudding

*allow to sit 2-4 hours until pudding is firm. In the event you have to dash out the door, pop it in the freezer during dinner (about 1 hr to 90 mins)

Top with homemade whipped cream (1 pint cream, 3 TBS sugar -- beat or whisk in a cold bowl until fluffy and forms stiff peaks)

OK onto the sides -- Brussel Sprouts

I grossly over estimated how much of a side dish would be needed for 6 individuals, but here's the general idea of proportions:

Combine the following in  greased/sprayed 9x13 roasting dish

5 handfuls large brussel sprouts, trimmed of stems and sliced (I halved them, then chopped each half into 3 parts) -- it was enough to more than fill a 9x13 pan - - but keep in mind they shrink down quite a lot when roasted

1 c chopped walnuts

about 1 scant cup (or a good sized handful) thinly sliced and halved onions

(about 4-5 pieces of bacon or pancetta chopped is a nice addition to this dish - but we had vegetarians/non-pork eaters, so I omitted it, and it tasted delicious)

Salt and Pepper generously

sprinkle about 3-4 TBS brown sugar over the dish and drizzle with balsamic vinegar to your tasting.

Roast at 325 F for 20-30 mins, checking around the 20 min mark. You want some parts to be crispy, but the largest pieces to be soft. In the last 5 mins, mix in about 1/3 c water


And finally, the mashed potatoes:

Again, we made WAY too many of these - so this would probably serve about 10 people or more.

Boil (about 15-20 mins)

about 15 red potatoes, cut into chunks, skin still on in a pot with salted water. mix in about 2 tsp garlic powder

Drain the potatoes and return to pot, allow to sit over medium heat, stirring occasionally, to allow the steam and moisture to leave the potatoes.

Allow 3/4 stick of butter to melt into the potatoes, then mash gently with a large spoon or ricer, mix in 2 TBS garlic salt, about 1/3 c buttermilk, and 3 TBS parm cheese (optional). You may need to add up to half a cup of buttermilk, depending on your potatoes.

I finish mine with a few minutes being blended with an electric mixer, so they are light and fluffy.

In addition to the above,  our intern dinner featured cranberry honey wheat rolls (watch for an attempted re-make of these soon), vegetarian chili, brie-stuff mushroom caps, chicken piccata, macaroni and cheese, and was followed by peppermint ice cream pie, apple dessert on more ice cream, and the aforementioned chocolate pudding pie. It was intense. :-)

Dreaming? of Intern Christmas.... hopefully we'll be a little more sane about the number of dishes we all bring! :-)

Inspired by a fellow blogger

After reading a post by a friend of mine about her cooking marathon, I was definitely in the mood for chili.

I've never really followed a chili recipe - I just kind of keep adding stuff to the pot until it all simmers together and is tasty.

MMM, ground beef, onions and garlic. Korean labels on the ground beef, and my lack of ability to estimate the weight of a package of meat, meant this ended up being a much larger batch of chili than I intended. This got seasoned with lots of chili powder, paprika and cumin. I also tossed in some yellow curry powder and three seeded, diced jalapenos.

Lotsa lotsa green peppers!!

Oh, enter the canned goods.

A chili is born!

 

Finally the end product.

Usually, I serve chili with tortilla chips, but I also am a huge fan of cornbread. Not having any cornbread or mixes in the house, I tried some polenta -- using the leftover buttermilk from the yummy red velvet cake on Saturday night. 

Turns out chili smothered polenta is a hell of a lot better than polenta smothered in greens! ;-)