Meal Five

Saturday, after church, we had a covered dish meal and one of my contributions was a Spiced Fruit Tart.  I used a recipe from the December 2010 Southern Living, subbing in a homemade pie crust for the called for packaged refrigerated piecrust.

For some reason, piecrust has earned the reputation of being very difficult to make.  I haven't found this so, and I even forego the called-for shortening for butter (shortening creeps me out).  Furthermore, piecrust takes practically no time at all to make.  I highly suggest you try my recipe and find out just how easy pie is.

Tipsy Spiced Fruit Tart with Buttermilk Whipped Cream
2/3 cup bourbon
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup dried Mission figs, halved
1 7oz package dried apricots, chopped
1 cup raisins
3 pears, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
2 piecrusts (recipe below)
1 large egg, beaten
2 teaspoons turbinado sugar
Buttermilk Whipped Cream (recipe below)

1. Cook bourbon, cinnamon, allspice and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved.  Try not to dive your face into the fragrant syrup.

2. Remove from heat and stir in dried fruit.  Pour mixture in a gallon-size zip-top freezer bag and seal, removing as much air as possible.  You may sample one piece of fruit, but limit yourself to one.  Otherwise, you will risk having no fruit for the tart.  It's that good.  Chill for 24 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 350°.  Dump fruit into a large bowl and stir in the pears, flour, ginger, and 1/4 cup sugar.

4. Stack piecrusts on parchment paper.  Mound fruit in the center of the piecrust, leaving a 2-1/2 inch border.  Fold in the piecrust, leaving an opening about 5 inches in diameter.

5. Brush crust with egg, then sprinkle with turbinado sugar.  Slide parchment paper (and tart) onto a baking sheet.

6. Bake for 50 minutes or until filling is all bubbly and yummy.  Cool on baking sheet for at least half an hour.

Piecrust
1-1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
4-5 tablespoons cold water 

1. In a medium sized bowl, stir together the flour and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

2. Sprinkle mixture with the water.  You may stir together with a fork, delicately moistening (that's right, family, I said "moist") the dough, but I prefer to just stick my hands right in there and mash it all together.

3. Form dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface, then flatten slightly.  Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough, working from the center out, until the circle is 12 inches in diameter.

4. To transfer the pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin.

Buttermilk Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons sugar

Beat together ingredients until soft peaks form.

Meal Four

Around this house, Friday evenings are most special times as they mark the beginning of the weekly Sabbath.  To help celebrate, I typically try to make Friday dinner a bit more fancy than the regular weeknight meals.  This Friday, I decided to dig out from the freezer the turkey my husband's employer handed out at Thanksgiving.

I love a good roasted turkey all on its own, but I am particularly excited about some of the recipes for leftovers in the November 2010 Southern Living.  We were away this past Thanksgiving, so I did not have any leftover turkey to call my own; I didn't think it particularly appropriate to commandeer the leftovers-- and my husband's grandparents' kitchen-- to try out a couple of new recipes.

Back to the Friday night meal: to accompany the simple roasted turkey, I made roasted Brussels sprouts & grapes, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry compote, and chocolate soufflé.  Now, I knew that canned cranberry sauce was fairly common, but did you know that people buy instant mashed potato mix?  I imagine that its simply dehydrated mashed potatoes, but nevertheless, making potatoes from a powder seems terribly disgusting, especially when considering that homemade mashed potatoes takes all of twenty, maybe twenty-five minutes. Unfortunately I cannot share my mashed potato recipe with you because a) Aaron made the potatoes and b) it's a top secret recipe (I know it, but that doesn't mean I have to share it with you!). 

I do have to admit that I grew up eating canned cranberry sauce.  After my mom died, Dad continued to host Thanksgiving at our house and one year decided he would contribute cranberry relish along with roasting the turkey.  The first year, probably every family member took a little-- it was new, so why not?  Let's just say that in the subsequent few years he continued to make it, aside from Dad's serving for himself, the only reason any was eaten at all was because all the cousins would stand in the kitchen and dare one another to try it.  Later on, my older sister and I discovered Sugars coaxing effect on Cranberry's acerbic tongue, and I have never looked back and the canned stuff.  I have a feeling that once you try the Bourbon-Cranberry Compote, you won't look back, either.

Roast Turkey
This is a very simple roast turkey recipe.  I enjoy a more complex turkey now and again, such as with sage butter stuffed under the skin, but you really can't go wrong with the class roasted turkey.

1 12-pound turkey, thawed
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Sea Salt
2 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces


1. Preheat oven to 375°.  Yank the neck and giblets out of the cavity (you will have to lift up the skin at either the neck opening or the... bottom opening).  Toss the nasty giblets away (don't open the package and take a peek!), but reserve the turkey neck.  Stuff the cavity with half the onion wedges.

2. Tie together the legs with kitchen twine (our turkey came with the legs already pinned together, as pictured below).  Cut a slit in the skin just above each wing and tuck in the tip of each wing (this prevents burning).

3. Get fresh with the turkey and rub him (or her!) down with the butter, then sprinkle with the salt.

4. Chuck the remaining onions, carrots, celery and turkey neck in a large roasting pan.  Position the bird on the roasting rack and place the rack in the pan.

5. Roast the turkey for 2-1/2 to 3 hours.  If the turkey starts to get a little sunburned, just tent it loosely with foil.  If the vegetables begin to blacken, pour into the pan a little water or chicken broth.  

You have a couple of options for checking that it is done: wait until the little timer that is stuck in the turkey pops up, or stick a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh and make sure it has reached 165°.  

While the turkey is roasting, you can baste it every 30 minutes with the pan juices.  The absolute only reason to spend time basting is to produce a nice, evenly brown crust.  I didn't bother with the basting and my turkey came out beautifully brown anyway.

6. After the turkey is all done, reserve the pan and its contents for the gravy.

Gravy

Contents from roasting pan

1 cup dry white wine

1-3 cups chicken broth

4 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup flour

Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper

1. Remove the vegetables and neck from the pan and drop them like they're hot (which... they probably are...) into the trash.  Pour the pan juices into a fat separator and allow to sit for 5 minutes while the fat makes its way to the top.  Pour the juices into a measuring cup, but leave that fat film behind!

2. Place the empty roasting pan across 2 burners and add the wine to deglaze the pan.  Cook for 1 minute.  Pour the contents of the pan into the measuring cup of skimmed pan juices.  Add enough chicken broth to make 4 total cups.

3. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, then sprinkle with the flour to create a roux (roooooooo).  Cook the roux for 4-5 minutes.

4. Whisk in the 4 cups of liquid and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until you have a nice, thick gravy.  Finish it off by seasoning with salt and pepper.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Grapes

recipe from November 2010 Real Simple

1-1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, halved

1 pound red seedless grapes

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 tablespoon thyme (fresh or dried)

1. Heat oven to 375°.  In a large bowl, toss the Brussels sprouts, grapes, olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.

2. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until Brussels sprouts are golden brown and tender.

Bourbon Cranberry Compote

adapted from recipe in November 2010 Real Simple

1 12-ounce bag cranberries

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup bourbon

1. In a saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar, juice and bourbon (feel free to sample the bourbon-- to make sure it's still good).

2. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries begin to burst forth from their shells.

3. Continue to simmer until sauce thickens, 20-25 minutes total.  Cool before serving.

Chocolate Soufflés with Whipped Sour Cream

adapted from "Red Velvet Soufflés" recipe in the December 2010 Southern Living

To turn these chocolate soufflés into red velvet soufflés, just add a tablespoon of red food coloring to the batter.  That seemed like an awful lot of food coloring just to make something "red velvet" rather than just plain ol' chocolate, so I forewent the dye.  You are the captain of your own ship, though, so if you really hanker for red soufflés, then dye away!

1 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoons sugar

4oz bittersweet chocolate bar, chopped

5 large eggs, divided

1/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

salt

2 tablespoons sugar

powdered sugar

whipped sour cream (recipe below)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease bottom and sides of 6 8oz ramekins with butter, then sprinkle with the 3 tablespoons sugar. Place ramekins on a baking sheet.

2. Melt chocolate in a double-boiler.  Stir in 4 egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar, milk and vanilla extract.

3. Beat 5 egg whites and salt and high speed until foamy.  Gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar and beat the egg whites into submission (or until stiff peaks form).

4. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture, one-third at a time.

5. Spoon batter into ramekins and run thumb around the edges of the mixture to create a shallow indentation (this apparently helps the soufflés rise-- and there is nothing more disappointing than a flat soufflé!).

6.  Bake for 20-24 minutes until soufflés rise and set.

Whipped Sour Cream

3/4 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Beat together all ingredients at high speed with a hand mixer until lightly whipped and pourable.

Drizzle the soufflés with the whipping cream and enjoy!

Meal Three

 Yeah, so I'm about a week behind in posts.  Little Man is constantly on the move these days, which eats up an astonishing amount of my time.  Daddy is working from home today, though, so hopefully I will have a little time to get all caught up!  I'll just date the posts as though I wrote them on the day I made the food.  Cheating?  Of course not.

Parmesan Crusted Salmon with Roasted Veggies

We haven't had fish in a while, and Trader Joe's had a lovely piece of Salmon, so I brought it home (after paying for it, of course!) for dinner.  This recipe is so easy-breezy and is ready in less time than it would take to drive to a restaurant, order it and wait for it.  And my eight-and-a-half month old son even enjoyed it!

2 bulbs fennel, cut into wedges
1 red onion, cut into wedges
1 pint cherry tomatoes or diced tomato
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Salmon
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon butter

1. In a baking pan, toss the fennel, onion and tomatoes with a generous coating of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast at 375° for 30 minutes.





2. Meanwhile, melt butter in skillet and sear salmon on one side.  Flip and while second side sears, sprinkle top with Parmesan, salt and pepper.  Cheese should just begin to melt while second side sears.

3. Once vegetables have roasted 30 minutes, add seared salmon to middle of pan and return to oven.  Allow to cook 20 minutes, or until salmon is cooked through and cheese is slightly toasted.





See?  Easy.  So, having salmon tonight?

Meal Two

Apparently cream is the theme of our menu this week.  Well, for the first two meals at least.  But, man, cream is so good!  As is garlic... Mmm...

Anyhoodles, last night I made Chipotle-Buttermilk Chicken with rice and broccoli.  The chicken recipe is adapted from the "Chile-Buttermilk Baked Chicken" recipe in the December 2010 Southern Living.  I couldn't find fresh green chiles, so I used chipotles we smoked in my husband's grandfather's smoker at Thanksgiving.  The recipe also called for a can of cream of mushroom soup, so I ad-libbed fresh ingredients.  Normally, husband and I split a chicken breast, but this was so good, we each ate a whole one.  Pigs. 

Chipotle-Buttermilk Baked Chicken

2 tbsp olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I used 3)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup cream
1 chipotle, minced
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

The recipe wanted me to do the typical two-plates thing and dip the chicken first in the buttermilk, then in the flour, but I said poppycock to the extra dishes and just dumped the spices, buttermilk, and flour on the chicken in like turn.

Then I placed the breaded chicken breasts in an oiled baking dish and baked at 425° for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, I stirred together the mushrooms, onions, garlic, cream and chipotle.

When the timer sounded, I poured the mushroom mixture over the chicken, then popped it back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

During this time, I steamed the broccoli (I use a steamer basket set in a small stockpot) and cooked the rice (I used Basmati... we have a 10lb bag of the stuff!).

For the final touch, I sprinkled the cheese on the chicken and put it back in the oven for about 5 minutes, just to let the cheese melt.

Meal One

Whew.

Clearly I did not start my little project on January 1.  When setting my start date, I failed to take into account our end-of-the-year plans.  Husband and I decided we could cram-pack his week of vacation with visits to Baton Rouge and D.C. to see my younger sister and her husband and Aaron's parents.  Five flights later, we're home, and I've started cooking!

Aaron wanted something light for dinner last night, so I settled on soup and salad.  I also needed an easy dinner because, as we just returned home Sunday evening, I hadn't yet grocery shopped.  The soup, salad and dressing were easy-beasy and fairly quick.  The French bread was easy, but not quite so quick, though I did use the quickest recipe I could find (3 hours).  Apparently superb French bread takes 9+ hours, at least according to Julia Child's recipe.  I'll save that one for a weekend endeavor.

Now to the recipes!

French Bread

Let me first give credit for the recipe to the Steamy Kitchen blog.  She gives some nifty tips for creating the "perfect" loaf, such as chucking a cup of water on the floor of the oven to create a nice steam in which the bread can bake.  I did deter from the recipe slightly (for example, I used whole wheat flour rather than bread flour).

So, my interpretation of the recipe:

4 cups whole wheat white flour  

2 tsp active dry yeast

2 tsp salt

1-1/2 cups warm water

First, I emptied 3-3/4 cups flour in a mixing bowl, dutifully placed the yeast on one side of the bowl and the salt on the other, then dumped in the hot water and mixed until combined.

I then turned the dough out on the counter and kneaded for six minutes, let the dough rest for seven minutes, then went back at it again for another seven minutes.

At this point, the dough was nice and supple (yes, supple).  I formed it into a more-or-less ball, sprayed a bowl with olive oil using my super nifty and handy Misto Olive Oil Sprayer (bye-bye Pam), and placed the dough ball in the bowl, turning it once to ensure all surface area was lightly coated with oil.  Finally, I covered the bowl with plastic wrap (I am sorry to say that I did not make the plastic wrap myself) and placed it in a "warm, dry place," which turned out to be on top of the warming eye on the stove turned to low (our house is not what I would deem "warm" at this time of year).  There the little dough ball sat for an hour, rising happily, while I rocked Bronson to sleep, sorted the mail, and tidied the kitchen (cooking from scratch is so time consuming!).

When the kitchen timer sounded, I returned to the kitchen, placed a baking sheet in the oven and turned the oven on to 425° (using the convection setting; without the convection setting, the temperature should be 450°).

Thirty minutes later, I checked that the dough had, in fact, gone all fatty pants on me and doubled in size, and I pressed on the surface to make sure it was elastic (i.e. made sure the dough sprang back to place).  Doughy McDougherson passed the test, so I  punched it down, split it in half, and formed two loaves.  I covered them with a damp towel and let them take it easy for half an hour before making a few shallow slits along the top of each loaf and placing them on the baking sheet that had been heating in the oven.

Then I put them in the oven for a little steam.  Steam?  Yes.  Steam.  Steamy Kitchen lady recommends chucking a cup full of water on the floor of the oven before shutting the door (super fast!).  The water creates steam in the oven, which thereby creates a nice crusty finish on the bread.  Because I'm a big ol' chicken pants, I used a cup of ice instead of a cup of water.  It just seemed safer.  Either way, next time (if there is a next time) I'll try tossing more water into my oven because, while there was a crust on the bread, it was not as crunchy as I am accustomed to in a nice baguette.  Further, the bread was a little dull in taste; a little more salt in the dough should fix that.  All-in-all, not a bad bread for just three hours time.

Garlic Soup

Recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman's blog.

I love garlic.  My husband loves garlic.  Stands to reason we would love garlic soup, so I tried it out!

1 tsp olive oil

1 cup onion, thinly sliced

12 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

1 cup dry white wine

1 quart chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup shredded Gruyere

So first I sliced up the onion and smashed the garlic (mmm, garlic), then threw them in a cast iron skillet with the teaspoon of oil to sauté (In the name of honesty, I didn't measure the olive oil.  I never do.  It was likely more than a mere teaspoon).  

After the onions and garlic caramelized, I added the white wine, covered, and cooked for 10 minutes.  Next, I added the chicken stock, flour, and bay leaf, brought to a boil, then let simmer for 30 minutes, covered.

*Note: I made the chicken stock from scratch a couple of months ago, therefore I do not have photographs of the process.  Fear not, I am making turkey stock this weekend and will post the recipe afterward.

Next, my husband removed the bay leaf and pureed the soup.  (What?  I was nursing the baby.)  He did it in batches in the blender, but as soon as I make another pot of creamy soup, I am purchasing an immersible hand blender.  So much easier (and fewer dishes to wash!).  He then dumped the puree back into the pot, added the cream, salt and pepper.  And just like that, the soup was d-o-n-e.

To accompany the soup, I made a mixed greens salad with cilantro dressing.  We have to have some vegetables!

Cilantro Dressing

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

2 bunches cilantro, stems removed

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1-1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup olive oil

After mincing the ginger, I dropped the garlic, ginger and cilantro into the blender and pulsed it a few times.  Then I added the lime juice, vinegar, spices and sugar and blended until mixed.

Next, I grated the Parmesan cheese, then added it to the mix and gave it a good ol' pulse or two.

Finally, I drizzled in the oil, sent the blender for a little whir, and voila!

A delicious dressing.

So, our dinner of soup, salad, and bread was... okay.

The salad was delicious.  Hubby and I both very much enjoyed the dressing.

The soup was decent.  I was really expecting more flavor from a garlic soup.  Perhaps the cream masked the garlic?  No kidding, I think I would double the garlic if I made this again.  Did I mention I love garlic?  And, as stated previously, the bread lacked salt. 

Still, not a bad first meal.