Braised Beef with Rich Gravy and Rice

I'd love to show you a picture of this instant favorite, but the truth is my picture taking abilities leave much to be desired and instead of beautiful shots of bowls of fantastic deliciousness it looks more like steaming bowls of dog food.

So.

We came back from our Georgia vacation into cold and blustery Central New York (though this winter has been especially mild, we still managed to land home on a quite bitter and windy day).

We have a small side of beef sitting in our freezer (local friends, it's from CNY Beef in Homer - I haven't used much of it yet, but have been very impressed with what I have used so far!) so I have several cuts of meat that I am unfamiliar with.

I have quite a few packages of cube steak, which I had never heard of before. After some quick internet research, I realized it would work just fine for this recipe. I was slightly concerned, since the consensus was either Love it! or Hate it!

I'm thinking I'm in the Love it! camp.

The kids devoured second and third helpings (next time, no almonds mom!) and the simple rice made a fantastic leftover side dish for a second night.

I got the recipe from The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook: in which it is attributed to Marcia LeClair from Rocky Meadow Farm, but I see it on several other websites as well so I'm not sure where the original recipe originates.

on my counter this week

Braised Beef with Rich Gravy and Rice

• 2 lbs round steak cut into 1-inch cubes or stew beef
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced into thin wedges
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms (optional)
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 3 cups beef broth plus 1 cup, if needed for gravy
• 4 Tbsp all purpose flour
• ¾ cup ice water

1. Sprinkle the beef cubes with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet. Add the meat and saute until well browned; remove to a bowl, and keep warm. In the same skillet, saute the onions, mushrooms, and garlic until the onions are translucent.
   
   
2. Add 3 cups of broth and bring to a simmer, stirring the mixture often and scraping up any browned bits. Return the beef to the skillet, cover tightly, and simmer for 1 hour or more until the beef is tender. If the liquid starts to boil over, turn the heat down slightly.
   
   
3. Periodically check the stew to make sure there is ample liquid for cooking the meat and for making the gravy afterward. If too much has boiled off, add the fourth cup of broth. If you still need more liquid, add a cup or two of water ( you'll want nearly 2 cups of liquid left in the pan after the meat has cooked). During this time, prepare the rice and vegetables.
   
   
4. Once the rice and vegetables are ready, in a separate glass, whisk the flour into the ice water until smooth. Gradually stir this thickener into the simmering beef and broth. Bring the mixture to a slow boil and cook for a few seconds, stirring, until the gravy thickens. Serve over the rice with vegetables
   
   

    Rice and Vegetables

   • 2 cups brown rice
   • 2 cups warm water
   • 1 tsp salt
   • 2 Tbsp butter
   • 3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
   • 1 onion, finely chopped
   • 3 carrots, scraped, shredded
   • 2 sweet bell peppers, green or red, diced (I omitted these)
   • 2 Tbsp olive oil
   • ½ cup blanched almonds, sliced
   1. Bring rice to a boil, skim off any residue that rises to the top, stir in the salt and butter, cover, lower the heat, and simmer until all liquid is absorbed, about 30-45 minutes.
      
      
   2. Just before all the water is evaporated, saute the vegetables in the olive oil until crisp-tender. Stir them into the cooked rice and add the sliced almonds. Keep warm until you are ready to serve.
   
   

homemade takeout :: sweet and sour chicken and crab rangoon

I used to make chinese food once every couple of months. More recently it's been pretty much every week.

I actually worked in an Asian Wokery at Wegmans for several years when I was younger (if you don't have a a Wegmans I am so very sorry for you). I didn't cook though. I loved (who am I kidding -LOVE, still love!) the wokery food at Wegmans, even though it's totally Americanized. One of the cooks I used to work with would cook 'real' Asian food for us sometimes and would tell me how "American" all the food was they cooked for the bar. Too much sugar, he said. Which I'm sure is true, but it's still totally delicious.

So my homecooked Chinese simply doesn't compare to Wegmans. But it's pretty darn good for homemade 'takeout.'

I find that it's a pretty good process. Chinese night means a good 1.5 hours of food prep and cooking, so I try to only do it on nights that The Husband is home as well.

I also find I probably do too much frying. I baked eggrolls last week. Not as good. I justify it by saying that we probably eat less fried foods than the average american family getting fast food several times a week.

For a few weeks I was just doing a quick pork and veggie stirfry and eggrolls. But the last couple of weeks we've been branching out a little more. I'm thinking I need to get us some chopsticks and some authentic asian recipes.

Last nights dinner was sweet and sour chicken, veggie stirfry, rice, and crab rangoon (um. sans crab so just rangoon?)

Colin told me it was better than Wegmans. That's one heck of a compliment around these parts!

Sweet and Sour Chicken 
Chicken:
6 boneless skinless breasts cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cups flour
1.5 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 1/2 cups water

Combine dry ingredients and slowly add water until a thick batter forms. Add the chicken pieces and mix to coat.

Drop one by one in fryer preheated to 350 degrees. I did 4 batches total, each one taking about 10 minutes. You'll want about 1 quart of oil (vegetable, coconut, peanut  - whatever you want)

Keep finished chicken pieces on baking sheet in 200-250 degree oven to keep warm and crispy will frying additional batches.

Sauce:
1/4 cup pineapple juice (or 8 oz can crushed pineapple - use all the juice and about 1/2 the pineapple)
1 3/4 cup water, divided
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
red and yellow or orange food coloring if desired to look like takeout sauce

In a saucepan mix 1 1/2 cup water, sugar, pineapple, vinegar and food coloring if using. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Mix 1/4 cup cornstarch with 1/4 cup water and add to saucepan (I would halve those amounts next time) - stir until thickened (I kept this on simmer while everything else cooked up)


Serve sauce over chicken

Non Crab Rangoon. 
1 8oz pkg of cream cheese, softened
garlic powder to taste (I used around a tablespoon)
1/2 tsp paprika
dash of pepper
green onions, sliced (as many as desired)
1 pkg wonton wrappers


Mix all ingredients except wrappers (obviously)

spoon mixture into center of wrappers (about a tablespoonish)

wet edges of wrappers with water, fold in half and pinch closed

Fry at 350 for about 5 minutes. Can keep warm and crispy in oven on 200-250 on baking sheet.


Nom.

snowy day jam cake

Using up the preserves that sound so amazing in summer, isn't always as easy as I think it will be come winter. After a while all that spreading on toast and biscuits gets to be a bit boring. I always imagine while I sweat over a boiling stove in the middle of summer, how each jar will be like a slice of sunshine in the dreary days of winter.

And it usually is almost exactly like that. But sometimes, I want something a little more.

Which is how I happened upon jam cake. I wanted a coffee cake. But I also wanted to use a jar of sour cherry jam that had been hanging around very patiently in my pantry. I found this recipe over at framed cooks and figured I could easily adapt it to what I wanted.

While pulling out the ingredients, I remembered an open jar of black forest jam (which is cherry and chocolate) in the fridge. Um, perfect.

I wasn't sure I liked it at first. But then I had 3 pieces in about an hour (shhhh!)

I think the recipe could still use some tweaking. I'd definitely add a splash of vanilla or almond extract to the wet ingredients - and while I considered adding cinnamon to the topping this time, I didn't - and next time I definitely would.

Also, more jam. I used a full (1/2 pint) jar of sour cherry and 3/4 jar of black forest and they just didn't shine through the cake at all. It's yummy, for sure - but the cake overpowered the jam. I also made mine in an 8x8 dish, so a larger dish (thinner cake) would probably help.

I will absolutely make it again. In fact, I've already decided that next time I will use blueberry maple walnut conserve and blueberry jam - with extra cinnamon and sugar in the cake and cinnamon. sugar and crushed walnuts in the topping. I'm pretty sure it is going to be divine.

Jam Cake

2 cups whole wheat white flour
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk (I used coconut- and now that I'm thinking of it I recall only using 1/3 cup milk . . .?)
1/2 cup sour cherry jam
1/2 cup black forest preserves. 

Topping:

1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter to make fine crumbs (I used a processor)

2. Add egg and milk; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

3. Spoon batter into a generously buttered 8x8 square pan. Spoon both jams over the batter, then swirl through the batter with a knife. If I was to do the cherry and black forest mix again, I might add some powdered cocoa here too. 

4. Mix topping ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle evenly over batter.

5. Bake at 400° for 25 to 30 minutes, until done. Tastes best warm.

um, it looks better than this is person. I took like 10 pictures and this is the best of the bunch :/

christmas countdown::satisfying soups::

Clearly I am not in blogger mode, because I did not snap one picture of any sort of soupy goodness.

Also, this post has been sitting half finished in queue for close to a week. "I can only do what I can do" is being muttered by me several times a day. Sometimes as a gentle reminder, sometimes as a peaceful acknowledgement and sometimes in exasperation or despair. There are only so many hours in the day and so much money in the bank (both seeming even less this year, with adjusting to me being home and a new baby).

So, I can only do what I can do. Which means that several things are scratched off the list of things we wanted to give, only two cookies out of the couple dozen on my list have been made, multiple surfaces in my house are filled with various crafting items so I can move back and forth between what I have time for, dishes sit in the sink longer than I'd like, and easy dinners are a must.

A close friend of ours just had a baby last week, so we brought by some soup for dinner.

This was one of the first crockpot recipes I ever made, and it was an instant keeper. The cookbook I got it from was passed on long ago, but the recipe remains in heavy rotation during the fall and winter months.

Double Thick Potato Cheese Soup

• 2 lbs  baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes ( I didn't bother with peeling this last time and it was fine)
• 2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup (I use a make your own cream soup mix base and add it to sauteed mushrooms or celery, though the recipe does work best if you use at least one condensed can)
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped green onions, divided
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (I add more though)
• 1 dash ground red pepper
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (an 8 oz block works fine)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup milk 
• black pepper to taste 

In crock pot combine potatoes, cream of mushroom, 1 cup of green onions and spices. Mix up well.

Cook on low 8 hours.

Add in cheese, sour cream and milk, stir until cheese melts.

Add the remaining green onions before serving.

 We like this served with a nice thick crispy bread, usually a Wegmans bought garlic tuscan loaf.

Of course, no dairy for me. I needed a substitution. I wasn't expecting much with no cream and no cheese - but was very pleasantly surprised at how this turned out!

Dairy Free Potato Chowder

celery
onions
carrots
minced garlic
red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
chicken broth (2-3 cups or so)
2-3 baking potatoes
coconut milk
bacon grease or oil


Saute diced celery, onions, garlic and carrots in bacon grease. Add diced potatoes, pepper flakes and seasoning and cook about 5 minutes on high. Add chicken broth, bring to a boil Turn down heat, cover and let simmer about 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

Add coconut milk (about 1/4-1/2 cup)

Blend with an immersion blender until desired consistency (I pureed most everything, but you can leave some veggies whole)

Delicious and best of all easy!

christmas countdown::the goodies::

We have yet to get started on any real Christmas baking, though I have outlined my list of, um 23 different things to make. Yeah. I should probably get moving on that.

So, it makes perfect sense that last night I decided to make something that was not on my list and that I had no real need to make - other than I decided I needed to make it.

Homemade dairy free "nutella". Oh, yeah.

It's adapted from the recipe in Cooking for Isaiah and can be found in it's entirety here: Silvanas Kitchen

I hear you can get already ready hazelnuts. I had nuts still in their shells, so cracking them all with a handheld nutcracker got sort of old and painful quickly. I ended up with about 1/2 cup nuts.

1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts (spread on baking sheet and toast at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Rub on towel to get skins off, most mine stayed on - I left them without a problem)
1/8 cup cocoa powder
just over 1/8 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp almond extract
1/8 tsp salt
3 tbs olive oil


In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts, scraping down the sides, until smooth, this took me about 45 seconds to a minute Add rest of the ingredients and process until combined, about 2 minutes. Taste and add more sugar or oil if desired. Refrigerate.

Now, I just need something to put this on, other than a spoon!

Pizza Rolls

It was a loooong week last week. My sister and her baby ended up having some complications that required a longer hospital stay. Then we had her shower on the Saturday after the baby was born (oops!).

I had a particularly bad weekend, part of which was me somehow getting the van stuck sideways, at the bottom of my driveway, in a snowbank - twice.

Things seem to be getting back to semi-normal now and even though I'm still battling some pregnancy fatigue I am feeling pretty well for the most part. I'm hoping to take advantage of this second trimester reprieve before the weight and exhaustion of the third trimester hits!

Aaaand I've been cooking again! yay! Well, sometimes anyway.

Not in the mood for a regular pizza we decided to try a variation and do a sort of pizza roll type dinner.

We used our favorite no fail bread dough (Suzanne McMinn's Grandmother Bread).

Once the dough has gone through it's first rise - we punch it down and shape into two balls and let go through the second rise. Then, roll it out into a rectangle (or best you can) fill it with deliciousness.

We did a spinach, broccoli, pesto, garlic and ricotta filling (with mozzarella) and a ground beef, onion and cheddar cheese filling.

So, spread your filling around your dough. Then let your husband take over, haha. Mine did. Something about eggs and sealing it. Basically he whisked some eggs in a bowl, folded the dough over it's self in half and around. Just seal it the best you can! He used egg on the non-filling side to help seal it together. Brush egg over the top and slice a couple of vent slits in the top.

Bake at 450 till browned. We did ours about 23 minutes and they could have used maybe another 10. They were starting to brown, so we pulled them - but the leftovers were way better (and less soggy-ish).

Nom, nom, nom. These also froze really well. I'm thinking about making several more variations to stock the freezer. But maybe in single serving size instead of giant rolls? Oh, so many options!

Recipes for a woodstacking party.

How to host a wood stacking party.

First, invite friends who will actually show up and actually stack wood. yay!

hehehe

Second - you find some children to help. Stacking wood is so much fun! What a great game!

ok, maybe you pay them a few dollars at the end. Only so they'll want to help you next year!

Beer helps.

Oh, it also helps to stay inside and cook food and drink wine - popping out only once in a while to take pictures. It makes wood stacking day much easier on you.

Forget to take pictures of all the food you made, so you have no proof that you actually did anything. Oops.

Menu

Pulled Pork

4 lb pork shoulder roast

BBQ Spice Rub

Jar of homemade BBQ sauce

The night before, rub pork shoulder with BBQ spice rub cover and put in fridge.

The next morning, put pork shoulder in crock pot with just enough water to cover the bottom. 

Cook on low 8 hours. Shred pork apart using two forks

Add pint jar of homemade bbq sauce. Cook on low for another hour (or longer if need be, just watch to make sure it doesn't dry out).

BBQ Spice Rub

(store remaining rub in container for later use)

from  Grassfed Gourmet

1/2 cup chili powder

3 tbs freshly ground black pepper 

4 tbs sugar

3 tbs coarse salt

2 tbs paprika

Chili

1lb ground beef

1lb ground hot italian sausage

1 jar homemade salsa (recipe fresh salsa from Ball Blue Book)

28oz can crushed tomatoes

2 Tbs chili seasoning

1 tsp cumin

diced onion

diced garlic

oil

Saute onion and garlic in oil. Add sausage and beef and cook till browned. Put in crockpot, add remaining ingredients. Stir, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. I pulled the lid off for the last hour of cooking. 

Cornbread

Recipe to follow - by tonight!

Coleslaw (courtesy of Barefoot Goddess)

Roasted Fall Veggies

use any in season veggies. We used:

acorn squash

butternut squash

onions

carrots

peppers

coat with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 425 for about 30 minutes, or until caramelized.

Hot Buttered Rum

This was very, very good - but very sweet! Next time I'd halve the sugar. And oh yes, there will be a next time! 

It was the perfect sipping drink for the bonfire at the end of the day!

Recipe source

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 pinch salt

2 quarts water

3 cinnamon sticks (I think 2 would be fine)

6 whole cloves

2 cups rum

whipped cream and nutmeg if desired 

Combine the brown sugar, butter, salt and hot water in 5 quart slow cooker. Add cinnamon sticks and cloves. Cover and cook on Low for 5 hours. Stir in rum. 

Ladle from the slow cooker into mugs, and top with whipped cream and a dusting of nutmeg. 

** The butter sort of oils on top a little bit - I found that if the cooker was on high, it helped to lessen that. I'm sure whipped cream would cover it too!

Thank you so very much to everyone who came out and helped!

pumpkin pie spice coffee

Dunkin Donuts pumpkin pie spice coffee is one of my guilty pleasures. It's been cool and windy and very fall here lately, so I indulged in one the other day.

The carb and sugar counts are pretty high though, and I wanted to be able to make a version at home. After I was unable to find a copycat recipe online, I gave it a shot making one up this morning.

I mixed 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup local whole milk and whisked over med-high heat till hot and frothy. Frothy is a fun word, isn't it? Then I added 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice and 2 teaspoons xylitol. added coffee and two cinnamon sticks.

 there are cinnamon sticks, they just sunk down to the bottom and weren't cooperating for the picture!

I fully expected pumpkin pie deliciousness.

What I got was coffee and cream with a bit of a spicy bite. No pumpkin. No autumn delicious goodness.

Wah!


So I added another tsp of xylitol and another teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Nothing.

Shoot. Soooooo, as I sit here sipping my pretty unsatisfying drink I'm wondering what went wrong? Maybe because my pie spice is a year old?


Doing some quick searches on good ol' google, I found this recipe:

pumpkin spice latte

it calls for adding actually pumpkin, genius!

I'm going to make it tomorrow, I think. I'll make a few changes -and yes, I'll use canned pumpkin, even though I could use actual pumpkin because this week is too busy as is. But if it's a success, I'll definitely try real pumpkin next time. I already can't wait!

 is 3 pictures of one mediocre cup of coffee excessive? Nah, not when there's a kitty about!

Do you have a favorite fall drink?

Seasonal Eating: Black Raspberries

I've found these growing all around the edge of our woods, and into the woods. I'm in love.

 I know, I know, I posted this picture yesterday too . . .

I've gotten about a pint each of the last two days, and I've found more tucked into the woods that I need to make a path to. I have no idea how long they produce, or how much they produce - I'd love to get enough for jam.

I had no idea what to do with what I had so far though.

First, I looked at this recipe: black raspberry muffins

Then, I found this recipe: raspberry hazelnut meringue

And while they both look absolutely delicious - they just weren't calling to me. So I checked a bunch of my cookbooks, which were very surprisingly sparse in the raspberry section - including my Cooking with Berries book. I was thinking about doing a raspberry vinegar, but many of the recipes called for more berries than I had - and I still wasn't sure if I wanted to use my precious berries that way either.

I finally settled on a raspberry shrub that I found in Pantry Gourmet. I kept coming back to that recipe, so I knew it must be The One.

A shrub, as a I found out, is an old style vinegar based drink. Yes, vinegar! Seems part of the reason for the vinegar was to prevent the drink from spoiling in warmer weather.

Most times, a shrub is made with quite a bit of sugar. Luckily the recipe I found calls for honey, which ok - is still like sugar - but seems a wee bit better, especially since I'm trying to cut out white/refined sugars and foods.

"Raspberry Shrub mixed with water is a pure, delicious drink for summer; and in a country where raspberries are abundant, it is good economy to make it answer instead of Port and Catalonia wine." 

~   The American Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Child, 1832

Raspberry Shrub
from The Pantry Gourmet by Jane Doerfer

" Use the raspberry liquid as a base for an old-fashioned raspberry cream soda. Add equal parts raspberry syrup and cream to a glass, fill it with seltzer water and stir. Taste the shrub and adjust amounts, or add 2 Tbs syrup to a glass of  seltzer."

1 quart raspberries (I, of course, used the black raspberries and had slightly under a quart)
2 cups water
1 cup honey (I used 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup white vinegar

Place the raspberries and 1 cup water in an enameled or stainless pan. Crush berries. Bring mixture to a boil, lower heat, and gently boil 5-10 minutes until berries release juices. Cool slightly.

Place berries in colander and let juices drip through, strain through a sieve or coffee filters (I just put them into a cheesecloth lined colander to begin with)  to remove any seeds and pulp.

Boil honey and remaining water for 10-15 minutes until light syrup is formed.

Stir raspberry juice and honey syrup together and boil for 1 or 2 minutes. Add vinegar and boil for 1 minute. Pour into hot, sterilized jar and seal.

Shrub will keep for several weeks in the fridge or for about 9 months in the freezer.

Recipe says it yields 3 1/4 cups - I got two jelly jars out of it 


I haven't made a drink out of it yet, as I need more seltzer. I did taste the syrup and it wasn't overly tart. I also planned on using it as a mixer for vodka, but this version looks interesting too - and I think I may try that shrub recipe next time: cocktailiana- raspberry-shrub.

 

Fathers Day Desserts

For fathers day yesterday I experimented with variations on two common desserts.

The first is one of  my husbands (and kids!) favorites. Simple, easy, chocolate pudding pie with whipped cream and graham cracker crust.

For years I've used pre-made crust, pudding and whipped cream - yesterday I did it all from scratch. The pudding was a little firmer than I would have liked, not quite as creamy. I think I'll mess around with it and try to adjust it to a creamier texture.

Chocolate Pudding Pie

Graham Cracker Crust

1.5 cup crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup melted butter
1/3 cup sugar (I used sucant)

Mix all ingredients, spread into greased pie pan and up sides. Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes.


Whipped Cream

I've heard that it helps to chill the bowl and beaters in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before whipping the cream. You're supposed to whip until the cream forms soft peaks - but I can never tell. I think I stopped just a little too soon in fear of over beating.


1 cup cream
3 tbs sugar
dash of vanilla (optional)

Whip 2-3 minutes or until soft peaks form.


Chocolate Pudding

recipe found at recipezaar

6 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch (slightly heaping)
2 tablespoons cocoa (heaping)
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups milk (I used whole milk)


Combine all dry ingredients until all lumps are gone and blended well

Add milk and place on burner turned to high -- stir constantly until desired thickness. I stopped when it was slightly thinner than what I wanted, but once in the fridge it was more mousse-y than puddingy. I'm not sure if the better way is to stop sooner, use part cream or less cornstarch. I'll mess around with it and see what happens.

Remove from heat and add vanilla


Then of course, the pudding pie is basic - pour prepared pudding into cooled crust - cool - top with whipped cream and ganache style chocolate (recipe below)



I also made a lower carb dessert - a cheesecake tart. I had an idea of what I wanted, especially having all that homemade cream cheese on hand- then just needed a recipe to guide me. So this one is inspired from the Good Housekeeping Almond Cheesecake Tart

 My version:

Almond Cheesecake Tart. 

Crust
1 cup almond flour (or crushed blanched almonds)
1 graham cracker
3 tbs butter, melted
1 tbs xylitol


Filling
12 oz cream cheese
1/3 cup xylitol
2 large eggs (I might do 3 next time)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/3 cup sour cream (I think I'd add more next time)

Put crust mix into pie pan (I used a cake pan). You should probably press up the sides to form a secure crust, but I just pressed it into the bottom. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes.

Combine cream cheese and sugar and mix well. Add rest of filling ingredients and mix until smooth.

Lower oven temp to 350.

Pour filling into prepared crust and bake for 20 minutes (I cooked mine for 25). Cool on rack.

Cover with whipped cream (recipe above) drizzle with chocolate ganache


Ganache style chocolate

4 oz chocolate, I used an 85% cocoa bar
2 tbs butter
4 tbs heavy cream

heat all ingredients in saucepan on high until it comes to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool slightly and drizzle over pudding pie and cheesecake tart.



I also tried out a few more summer time recipes that I'll be sharing this week - Happy Summer!

Adventures in Cheesemaking: Cream Cheese

I've been eating (and therefore buying) a lot of cream cheese lately. A super duper lot.

A few weeks ago I ordered the mesophilic  starter from New England Cheesemaking Supply so I could try my hand at cream cheese.

The recipe appears fool proof. Riki the cheesemaking queen says so. Over at Chickens in the Road it's declared "so easy a child could make it".

I figured it would be a breeze, and it no time I'd be whipping up my own cream cheese on a weekly basis. So I went and got myself some nice local, organic half and half and prepared to make some of what would no doubt be the most heavenly tasting cream cheese ever.

I was puttering around the kitchen, making some mozzarella and once that was finished began work on the cream cheese. It was 9 pm (oops) the cheese is supposed to set for 12 hours, which is fine, but I have to be to work at 7. Ok, so I'd just run home on lunch ( giving it 15 hours to set) and I'd hang it then. Only I got home and what was supposed to be a thick yogurt like curd was still pretty much just cream (with a layer of curd on top). Of course, being in a rush I didn't notice this until I had poured it into the colander lined with cheesecloth. Shoot. Hoping I didn't destroy it, I poured it back into the original bowl, gave it a stir, covered it and went back to work.

I spent some time popping around the internet, looking for someone who had similar troubles. Nope. All I could find was more talk about how easy it was to make. Hmph. About 6pm that night (so 21 hours later!) I decided to just go with what I had and hang it. It was definitely thicker, but I still think it may not have been quite right. Also, my house was at a pretty consistent 72 degrees for most of this time, so I don't think the temperature affected the setting.

I hung the cheese for about 15 hours and when it came out of the cheesecloth it had a frosting type texture.

A few hours in the fridge left it a pretty standard cream cheese texture, maybe slightly thicker.

I did all this last Thursday into Friday. I still haven't eaten it. It's good for two weeks, and I'm thinking I'll just make something with it. The taste (I did try it) is ok. But not heavenly. I'm not sure how to describe it. Kind of like a slightly tangy butter? I'm going to give it another shot, but I'm going to use the cheap store brand (not ultra-pasteurized though, thank you Wegmans!) half and half instead of the pricey local organic (delicious!) half and half. I'll report back on how well it goes next time.

Maybe I'll have my kids make it.

strawberry rhubarb crisp with rhubarb ice cream.

mmmm rhubarb.

This weekend I made the strawberry rhubarb crisp I mentioned the other day. So far I've tried it and Evan has tried it. Colin won't and Kevin kind of pretends it doesn't exist.

Evan likes it. It's ok. Nothing to write home about, but a quick, easy, tasty way to use some rhubarb.


Molly Katzan's Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

2 pounds fresh rhubarb cut into 1" chunks
3-4 cup sliced strawberries
1/3 - 1/2 cup white sugar  ( I used a mix of xylitol and sucant to equal 1/3 cup)
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour  (I used 1 cup of almond flour)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine the rhubarb and strawberries in a 9" square pan. Sprinkle with white sugar. Mix together remaining ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Distribute over the top of the fruit and pat firmly into place.

Bake uncovered for 35 - 40 minutes or until the top is crisp and lightly browned and the fruit is bubbling around the edges.

Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, plain or a la mode.

I also got it in my head I wanted to make rhubarb ice cream. But I was feeling very lazy, and didn't want to do a custard base and also didn't want to push the rhubarb through a sieve. So as a result the ice cream is more like a frozen ygourt texture and there were some chunks of rhubarb. Also, I didn't use the full amount of rhubarb, and I threw in a couple strawberries for color. If I did it again, I'd try a custard base for a creamier texture and I'd make sure I used the whole amount of rhubarb for a fuller flavor.



Rhubarb Ice Cream

6 cups diced fresh rhubarb (I used about 3 cups)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups heavy cream (I used 3 cups of heavy cream and 1 cup 1/2 and 1/2, cause that's what I had on hand)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon red food coloring, or to get desired color (I did not use)
3 cups milk (I used whole, cream on top, milk)


In a 2 quart saucepan over medium-low heat, combine rhubarb, sugar, water, lemon juice, and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, or until rhubarb is tender. Cool thoroughly.

Combine cooled rhubarb mixture with heavy cream, vanilla, and red food coloring. Pour into a 1 gallon freezer container. Add milk, filling 2.3 full. Freeze, following ice cream freezer directions.
Makes 1 gallon.

Seasonal Eating: Rhubarb

I have rhubarb I bought a week and a half ago at the market, still sitting in my fridge. I hate when I do that. I have the best intentions and then . . . nothing. It's incredibly wasteful, in so many aspects.

So, I was thinking each week or two, I'd highlight some seasonal recipes here - and maybe you could share some with me? I know, I know. I did so well with a recipe of the week. And of course I followed up with last years recipe for the strawberry rhubarb pie. What? I didn't? Oops.

Let's start fresh, okay?

Soon, I'll let you know about some changes I've been making in my diet. But for now I'll just let you know I've (mostly) cut out flour (but will be adding back in whole grains eventually), starches and sugar (with some occasional xyltiol and stevia and sucanat).

I'm not a fan of mock things. And I'll get into that later as well, but I'm ok with adjusting things to a point. Using different flours, very small amounts of "natural" sugars etc . . .

I'll probably still post delicious looking recipes containing sugar and flour, but won't be able to actually try them. I'll let you know what my family thinks. They have very interesting taste buds.

And please, please share some recipes with me, either with a link in the comments to your blog, or right in the comments. Maybe that will help keep me on track! ha!

Evan has already been asking for a strawberry rhubarb pie again, so hopefully(!) soon I'll re-post (um, first post) that recipe with some notes.

Here's what I plan on trying this week: Molly Katzens Strawbeey Rhubarb Crisp

I'll probably lower the sugar and use an oat or almond flour (probably oat . . .) I'll report back in a few days with the results.

Do you have any must have rhubarb recipes?

Grandmother Breadsticks

Note: I noticed today, that some of my pictures were a little mixed up on a couple posts. The worst one I found also happens to be one that I reference and link people to often, Grandmother Bread. 


None of the pictures were where they belonged, and I think I messed something up with computer albums and Picasa. Unfortunately, they are also somehow missing from my camera - I've deleted the pictures on that post until they can be properly replaced. So if you happen to notice anything else askew in the pictures, please drop me a line. You can find my e-mail under the contact me tab at the top of the page. Thanks!



I've been making these breadsticks for about 3 weeks now, and they are sooooo delicious. My youngest devours them!

I use the grandmother bread recipe to make our pizza dough each week. The recipe equals enough for two fluffy doughs and a batch of bread sticks (if you want thinner pizza dough you could easily get three dough rounds and two batches of bread sticks)



After the first rise of the dough, I punch it down and cut of a bit for the breadsticks. I divide the rest in two for my pizza. The bread sticks I just round (slightly flattened) and let go through the second rise (about an hour) I flatten the top again slightly and use a bread knife to cut about 8 pieces. 


Then, I just pour a little melted garlic and butter over the top, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and cook at 450 for about 7-8 minutes. So simple, so delicious!

 

making cranberry vodka

In late summer we made sour cherry vodka. I had a bunch of cranberries sitting in the freezer and decided to try a twist on the cherry vodka.

I won't know how it turns out for another 4 weeks or so, but here's what's going on so far:

Take 2 cups of cranberries, mix with 1 cup of sugar. Put in sauce pan and add about 1/4 cup of water. Simmer until berries start to soften and sugar starts to dissolve.

Scoop into mason jar, fill with vodka and shake. Then store in a cool dark place. Shake every day or so for the first week.

 

In 4 weeks you should have  delicious cranberry vodka!



edited 1/4/12 : This vodka seems to taste best 4-6 months after making. It was still very bitter after 4 weeks.