why i hate to eat on the road

I'm dreading every long ride now. I know I need to just start packing food, but with four little ones it's sometimes near impossible to pack suitcases and American Girl dolls and books and toothbrushes and Nintendo DS's and diapers, and then on top of it all pack a lunch for six. I need to do it, but I just haven't gotten in the habit. At any rate, everyone was hungry, so we pulled into a Wendy's.

When asked by my husband what I wanted, I replied, Cripy chicken sandwich (which although it is fast food is at least real chicken breast) and large unsweetened iced tea.

Here's what was in the wrapper - chicken sponge.


I detest chicken sponge, but we were already back on the highway and it was 2pm and I hadn't eaten all day. I had a small reserve of snacks left for the kids, but I could bring myself to steal from my toddler. In my husband's defense he offered to turn around and rectify the situation, but it was too late. I had already lost my appetite.


Why must they tease and call it chicken? It is most certainly not chicken.

Excuse me while I gag.

This is habit-changing.

Vegetarians beware

Last week I went to a bacon tasting. That's right, a Zingerman's brunch featuring bacon, with a bacon tasting in between the entree and the dessert (we're talking chocolate and bacon gravy here, people). Peppered by a talk by Ari about bacon and about his adventures in food writing. It was a really great morning, as these tastings always are.

Here's my favorite part of the whole thing. A tune topping the Billboard charts in 1956, Bacon Fat by Andre Williams. Love it. Reading bacon, smelling bacon, eating bacon, and listening bacon. Come on.

Daring Bakers ala March

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

Although I'd read the new posting directions, I didn't really register the change in the posting date until a friend pointed out this morning, the postings were due yesterday. Sorry!




When I read this month's challenge recipe, I was a little concerned. I've made lasagna so many many times before but this time would be different. Bechamel instead of a seasoned ricotta. Heavy meat sauce paired with fragile homemade spinach pasta. Could it really all come together? Of course. This is a traditional combination, just one that as an Italian-American I am less familiar with. I have made bechamel before, adding it to baked pasta dishes, but I have never totally abandoned my ricotta. So I must admit I was skeptical which might have tainted my reaction to this lasagna.

The pasta recipe was interesting. My combination of spinach, flour and only two eggs proved to be so dry that I improvised and added another THREE eggs, which seemed a little drastic. But the fifth egg really seemed to make the pasta dough the consistency that I had looked for before when I had made pasta. After rolling it out, I looked at several other cookbooks, including Batali and Silver Spoon, only to find that the ratio of egg to flour in these books was much closer to what I had ended up with (five eggs to three and a half cups flour), rather than the two eggs to three and a half cups flour. Perhaps it was a typo in the DB recipe. Or maybe I had especially dry flour. (wink)

In my family not everyone is totally into meat, so in order to get this to go over better I made a vegetarian ragu and layered the noodles with long strips of zucchini and eggplant that I slow roasted in the oven. This combination was fantastic. But my reservation held firm. The bechamel was too smooth, if that makes any sense. I love the way that a ricotta filling grips the noodle. This, on the other hand, had a slimier taste and texture.

Overall I think that if you've never had a lasagna before, this would be fantastic. But lasagna is just one of those comfort foods for me where preferences are so deeply rooted, it's hard to love the experimental version. Or maybe it reveals my anal tendencies to love routine and dislike surprise.

Barefoot of March :: tomato & goat cheese tart

As my second Barefoot recipe, I made tomato goat cheese tarts. They were wonderful, as all other Barefoot bloggers have noted. I made these small - with a glass of 3 inches in diameter. They sat on top of our simple salad of spinach and romaine with a tomato viniagrette. Wonderful as a tart, even better as a crouton. I could have had 10 of them. They were deceptively easy to pop into my mouth.

Aside from making them small, I also substituted fresh tomatoes for oven dried tomatoes that I made with our garden surplus in September. I've been waiting for something to use them for, and this was it!

Note that in the picture the bottom edge looks a bit dark, but they weren't burnt at all. I think it might have been super-caramelized tomato juices.

hot and spicy

Hey. Do ya love Penzey's spices as much as I do? I bet some of you are nodding. I've never been lucky enough to go to one of the shops in person, but once I made an online purchase I was hooked. These days I'm totally into the cinnamon, ooh and the chile powder. The catalog that I receive in the mail is very descriptive and often includes recipes with which to use the spices. Or I suppose to lure you into buying them... Here's a link to one that I made last weekend for the kids: puffed apple pancakes.

On a similar note, if you want to support a similar and LOCAL merchant, check out this small shop in Kerrytown, called The Spice Merchant. Although the variety is not quite as great as Penzey's online, it is wonderful to walk into a local shop selling an interesting collection of fresh spices. Last year when I was working through the Fork in the Road cookbook by Eric Villegas, one recipe called for tomato powder. The closest thing I could find was a smoked tomato blend at The Spice Merchant. It was also great on top of grilled cedar planked salmon.

Whether you're an Ann Arborite looking for somewhere local or reading from far away, there are definitely better spice options than the small selection at your big box grocery. And believe it or not, they do make a difference.

strong arming you

You might think the day after my KitchenAid ProMixer breaks should not be the one that I decide to make an aoli. No, no, I say, it IS the perfect time. My little girl picked out a beautiful piece of salmon at the market. And I had just read a recipe for Aioli that would go so well with fish.

Look at the striations on this baby...
Farm raised Norwegian salmon from Plum Market in Ann Arbor.



Anyway, I digress. I have made aioli before, but I've used a machine. So I guess some would say that I actually haven't made it, at least not the old fashioned way.

This recipe is based on one found on Epicurious.com and a homemade mayonnaise recipe from the Silver Spoon (Phaidon).

Aioli

1. Whisk two egg yolks and 1/2 garlic clove finely grated.
2. Slowly dribble in one scant cup oil. I used 1/2 extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 canola oil, although some recipes call for all olive oil, when I've made it before with all olive oil the taste was a bit overwhelming for me. For the first two tablespoons, whisk in two or three drops at a time. After that a steady thin stream will work.
   
3. When the whole cup is Incorporated, add two teaspoons fresh lemon juice, two teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper to taste.
   

Some recipes called for adding a bit of warm water at the end, but I find that the lemon and worc. add enough liquid to thin it out sufficiently.


Disclaimer: my arm was killing me. It is not easy to hold the bowl and whisk and the measuring cup that you're pouring the oil from. Eventually I settled on wedging the bowl in between my body and my large BOOS block cutting board on top of a tea towel. Honestly you really need a third arm. Or a friend. That's what you need, a friend who loves to cook as much as you. Alas, no one like that lives in my house, except my 9 year old, who would not be able to create a steady stream to save her life.

yuck

eat dinner before you read this article about Smithfield Pork's farming practices. The article is three years old, but, hey, it's new to me. I came across it reading a great food blog of a fellow Michigander, simmer down!

colcannon italiano :: take two

I can't leave well enough alone. Really I can't - which is why my kids never have real leftovers. I'm talking about honest to goodness leftovers, when the combination of food on your plate looks like a carbon copy of what it did the night before. Maybe I had leftovers too much as a kid, and I'm just working that out. At any rate, when I have enough of a meal left over, I make something new with it. Here's an example:



Colcannon fritters. Yum. Ice-cream scooper fulls of last night's dinner (see prior post) dropped lovingly into bubbling olive oil. Wait until the magic happens. Serve on top of arrabiatta sauce. (from a jar is okay - really it is.) A left-over, not leftover.

colcannon italiano

Is there such a thing? Who knows? But being both a little Irish and one half italian I thought I'd give it a try.

My recipe includes cavelo nero, otherwise known as latin kale. It's such a great substitute to a thicker leaf kale which although my family loves, might be a bit strong to someone who is not used to eating this wonderfully healthy vegetable.

Colcannon Italiano

1. In salted water boil four large potatoes that have been peeled and roughly chopped.
   
2. While the potatoes are boiling, remove and woody stems from 2 bunches of kale. Chop into large bite size pieces. They will shrink after boiling.
   
3. After 15 minutes, when the potatoes are tender, remove them with a strainer. Do not pour the water out.
   
4. Add the kale to the salted potato water. Boil for 5-7 minutes until wilted but not totally shapeless.
   
5. While kale is boiling, mash the potatoes with 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, and 1/2 cup hot milk. Taste and add season if necessary. Cheese will be coming next, so don't over salt.
   
6. Strain kale. Add to potatoes. Mash together. Add 3/4 cup -1 cup freshly grated pecorino romano.
7. Put into greased baking dish. Top with 1 cup fresh bread crumbs and another 1/2 cup of pecorino romano.
8. You now have two options. Broil for two minutes and serve immediately. Or if you, like me, have made this earlier in the day you are going to want to reheat it. Bake first for 20 minutes at 400deg, if necessary broil to brown the topping.
   

It's such an easy side dish and would go with many entrees, roasted sausages, barbecued chicken, brisket, oooh I'm getting hungry. Try topping it with a poached egg. Frankly it would be a meal by itself.

belated barefoot

Last month I joined the Barefoot Bloggers, but time tick tick ticked away and here I am posting my first of Ina's creations four days late.

I have made chicken piccata before. Ina's recipe reminded me how much I love it, especially with the Meyer lemons I found at Plum Market last week.



That, plus a little capellini and an fresh escarole salad make me one happy Italian girl.

candied citrus peel

Last night I made an attempt at making citrus peels. I say attempt because it was my first go and I think that I boiled them in the simple syrup a wee bit too long. I was expecting the texture of these babies to be pliable, but what I created was more of a crunchy sugared candy peel. Not really wrong, just not what I was expecting.

There are several steps to this process. None of which is particularly complicated.

• Peel an organic (you don't want candied pesticides, now do you?) orange or lemon removing as little pith as possible.
• Blanch the large strips of peel in water two or three times to remove any bitterness still in the skin.
  
• Slice into whatever size candy you desire. Thin strips would be good for decorating another baked good.
  
• Boil in a simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water) for 20 minutes.
• Remove with a strainer.
  
• Toss in granulated sugar. (optional)
  

They might take a little bit of effort, but they certainly they seem like they took longer to prepare than they really do.

Cigars

I know nothing about real cigars. Except what I learned from that one Seinfeld episode.

Tonight's side dish was so easy but unusual and yummy.

Cremini Cigars
Saute one shallot and one tablespoon fresh thyme in two tablespoons butter and one tablespoon olive oil. Finely chop three cups of mushrooms (I used cremini and shitake) and four thick slices of bacon. (I actually used a processor here - my goal was to get a thick paste.) You still want to be able to tell the difference between mushroom and bacon. Add this to your sauteeing shallot and cook for 8-10 minutes on med-low.

Coarsely shred 1/2 lb of gruyere. Melt 1/2 stick butter. Take 10 phyllo sheets out of the package, and cover them in a tea towel.

At this point you're basically setting up an assembly line now. Cut each phyllo sheet in half on the long side. Brush butter around the perimeter of the smallest square. Put one tablespoon of the mushroom mixture along the bottom edge. Top with two teaspoons of shredded gruyere. Roll up like you would a burrito. Bottom up, edges in, brush the back edge with butter, roll the rest of the way.

Complete the rest of the cigars. Brush the tops with melted butter. Bake at 425 degrees (convection if you have it) for 15 minutes.

So good. Wait til they cool if you can.

I'll get a picture up tomorrow...

the sourdough experiment

I am a novice bread baker to say the least. Lately I've been experimenting in the kitchen, checking off culinary techniques that an average home cook would not have accomplished. Last week it was crepes, yesterday, gougeres, today, the beginning of a loaf of sourdough. This last one will take me many days, so I figured I should take advantage of this blog and document the workings of one loaf of sourdough in a home kitchen.

Click the photo in the sidebar to be directed to that stream which will continue until I sink my teeth into that beautiful loaf.

Granola.

Granola is something I've been making for a while now. My father-in-law loves the stuff, but he's particular about not liking it with dried fruit. So I searched and searched for an easy recipe, one with few steps, that does not call for fruit. A few years ago Fine Cooking had a piece about making granola for the holidays. I think they even suggested packaging it up for cute little gifts. It's been a hit ever since I made the first batch.



Granola
(based on Fine cooking, Dec 2005)
Toss 1 cup chopped pecans with 3 cups oats. (as mentioned in a previous post, I would highly suggest McCann's or another stone ground oatmeal) Add 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp cinnamon to the dry mixture.

Bring 1/2 cup brown sugar to a boil with 1/4 cup water. When brown sugar has dissolved, add 2T vegetable oil and 1 t vanilla to the sugar syrup.

Pour liquid mixture over the dry. Toss until coated. Bake at 300degrees for 25 minutes. Toss after 15 minutes. Warm granola will come out of the oven slightly soft. It will harden as it cools.

varieties:
*if you like it sweet, you might want to increase the syrup proportions by 50%.
*add 1/4 sesame seeds, flax seeds or other grain that you'd prefer
*add 1 cup dried cherries (just don't tell John)
*add 2 T maple syrup to the simple syrup
*add 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

uses:
*sure, breakfast
*toss in your yogurt in the morning or if you're ambitious, yogurt parfaits
*pour over vanilla ice cream with homemade toffee sauce (Nigella's recipe here is to die for)

Boy am I naive.

Reading Gourmet this morning I stumbled upon this article about slavery of tomato pickers. Why does it surprise me? I suppose I live my isolated suburban life, without ever knowing how bad others in America have it. Sure in other non-industrialized countries, but in America? Apparently there is legitimate slavery going on in Florida for those who pick our tomatoes. As the article mentions, what is the point, winter tomatoes don't even taste any good. The author's suggestion? In the winter buy locally grown hydroponic tomatoes (how could you stand it though) and then in the summer grow your own and buy local.

more inspiration

Here's a link to the UK Times online 50 top food blogs in the world. That is if you have an hour or three...

Musings of a re-energized food blogger.

In order to douse myself in all things foodblog, I've been doing a lot of reading online and have found many favorites ... including this one The Adventures of a Kitchen Girl. It's such a fun blog. Lots of great photos and a few giveaways. So I'm linking to the post so that I can have a greater chance of winning a cookbook about artisanal bread baking.

Also I happened to be quoted by a local Ann Arbor online newspaper called the Ann Arbor Chronicle. I love this news site; it's great for local news tidbits about the community. Today's headline happens to be about maple tree tapping, something I'll blog about later. I have a tapping experiment going myself.

Oh yeah, one more thing. I've recently joined a blogroll called Great Cooks Community. It's a great place to get access to a myriad of food blogs in addition to get exposure for my blog. Check it out. It's a great resource.

King Corn

An excerpt from this month's Slow Food of Huron Valley newsletter directed me to two clips on you tube.

Several months ago I saw a documentary on PBS called King Corn. Two college graduates buy an acre of land and follow it for one year- raising one acre of corn. They are hit with the ins and outs about commerical farming of corn and what it has done to our agricultural system in America - and how disgustingly close that it is all tied into our fast food culture. I would highly recommend it if you can get your hands on a copy of the DVD. So they've apparently created a spoof of the recent corn syrup add that's been all over TV lately. And it's classic.

HFCS commercial paid for by the corn refiner's association:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVsgXPt564Q

and the spoof -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRicUInkYQM

I've been reading An Omnivore's Dilemna by Pollan. Really a great read so far. I'll update more when I'm done with it, but there's a large section about the "corning" of America. It's really quite interesting. Eye opening to say the least.

Flourless Chocolate Cake :: Feb DB

Daring Baker time again. Yippee! say the kids. Flourless chocolate cake with ice cream. The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

For a flourless cake you need four things: that's it. A double-boiler melted combination of chocolate and butter, stiff-peaked egg whites, and egg yolks. Sure you could throw in a little vanilla or a little espresso or salt. These would be great dimensions. But the greatness of this thing lies in it's simplicity. Oh yeah, I guess you'd need a buttered pan too, if you're being picky.





My interpretation of this month's challenge was creating a triple shot ice cream - coffee flavored ice cream with ground espresso and chocolate covered espresso beans. For you coffee lovers, yes, it was as good as it sounds. It *made* the dessert. So did the chocolate ganache sauce that it was all swimming in. Yum. If only I hadn't tried to restart my diet again this week. Sigh.




Below is a new function I'm trying out where you can more easily see my whole Flickr album for this challenge. What do you think?

Alfajore

Today I tried a wonderful cookie. Well, to be honest, cookie is not a fair word for this confection. It's so much more than a cookie. I bought the Maitelates Alfajores at Everyday Wines over in Kerrytown. Now I have to admit I was by myself browsing a wonderful little wine shop which I would have been fairly nervous about bringing my four kids into. So I'm sure that bumped the impression of these treats up a little - but just a little. Before eating a non-chocolate dipped one that Zingerman's has been making, I'd never tasted an alfajore. It is a very tasty a spread of dulche de leche sandwiched in between two tender and crumbly shortbread cookies. Maite's version is so good not only because of the decadent chocolate coating, but the confection as a whole is such a treat. The caramel and the cookie and the chocolate compliment each other so well.

About a month ago I had read this article about Maite's business and cookies in the Ann Arbor Chronicle, and I thought to myself that I would have to make sure to pick one up next time I was at the farmer's market. So imagine my delightful surprise when I saw them for sale at EW. Lovely. When it was done, I wished that I had eaten it a little bit slower.

free as a bird

Have you tried the chicken nuggets by Freebird? Really I despise the idea of chicken nuggets, I do. But when you have little ones in the house sometimes, once in a while, you have to compromise your food ideals. Generally we eat pretty real food around here, not magic food, as a dear friend once called it (C soup casseroles, etc.). When we eat it, it looks like and tastes like the real thing - only enhanced with spice and the Maillard reaction.

The Freebird chicken nuggets do have an honest chicken breast flavor which if you've tried any other nuggets recently you'll know is not a given. And the best part is that there is no magic in the flavor. No chicken flavor, like Mickey D's adds to their disgusting McFrankenNuggets. Seriously, what in the world is all that stuff? And they don't even write the ingredients of the stuff that they spray on the nuggets to make them stay edible in their freezers. Yikes. This is not intended to be an indictment of McDonald's. Just don't let them fool you with their commericals where they pretend to care about the produce. Again, I digress.

If you have a clientele for nuggets in your house, look out for these. They seem to be a guilt-free compromise between what the kids want and what you desire for them to eat.

Mardi Gras at Z's

Generally we're not big Mardi Gras celebrators around our house. Growing up in New Jersey doesn't exactly leave you with a deep feeling of tradition for the MG parade. I admire it in a very distant and longing sort of way, but not in a way that I can say that I've experienced the intense fun and debauchery of New Orleans. But this past Wednesday my husband I took the opportunity for a night out and joined Ari and the gang at Zingerman's roadhouse for their Mardi Gras dinner. Do I even need to say how great it was? I can't seem to get enough of the food genius that inhabits that building.

Chef Julio, who apparently used to cook at NOLA in New Orleans, told us that this was his third annual Mardi Gras dinner working at Zingerman's. He had such a passion for the Cajun cooking and history; it was really intriguing to hear him speak about his first hand knowledge of the cuisine.

The menu was a wonderful journey of the flavors of Cajun (NOT CREOLE) cooking. We started off with two apps: a roasted pepper stuffed with rice, andouille, and I believe there were even some currents in there, and an "Erster" stuffed and baked with a garlicky bread crumb topping (I'm pretty sure this had some kind of sausage in there too). These were wonderful, especially the oyster, of which I'm not usually the biggest fan. However, the flavors were top notch, really complimenting the smooth texture of the shellfish.

Next we had a cup of the best gumbo that I have ever had in my entire life. I've surely not tried as many as a real southerner, however, the rue that was the base of this gumbo must have been slow cooked for a very very long time because there was such amazing depth of flavor - the base of the soup was nearly black. It was so well seasoned, with shredded chicken, andouille, oysters, topped with a scoop of rice, and a steamed shrimp. There was just enough kick in here to make you sputter a little bit, but not too much that it overwhelmed the balance of the other flavors.

Our entree choices were suckling pig, crawfish pie, and blackened catfish in a tomato broth. All to be served with tastings of three sides; field peas (a delicious broad bean), mac choux, and chow chow. Once again these were classic Lousiana tastes done up Zingerman's style, with great ingredients and attention to detail. My husband chose the pig, and I had the crawfish pie. Both were excellent, but what surprised me was the exceptional quality of the crust for the crawfish pie. I had been expecting the crawfish to be baked in the shell, but instead it came as sort of an ettouffe dished into the flakiest perfectly seasoned savory pate brisee I have ever tasted. The texture was heavenly.

By now we were beginning to be uncomfortably full, but dessert was still to come so we had to make room. There were two sweets to try, a banana beignet served with a chocolate praline mousse, and a rum raisin rice pudding. These were also superb, but the only thing I wish about these desserts was that they had come first when I could totally appreciate them.

As always the best part of this experience was the ambiance, the service, the evening as a whole. I suppose others could recreate the perfect cajun tasting dinner (in the middle of a frozen Michigan winter) but Zingerman's staff manages to do it with an attention to detail and service that in my opinion is unequaled around here.

I have done many other Zingerman's tastings and would definitely suggest if you live in the area that you take the opportunity to go to one yourself. You will not be sorry.

Buttered what?

My daughter's fourth grade class was holding a medieval feast this week. They'd prepared for months, making goblets, reliefs of castles, swords, writing biographies of their own characters, and they were all pumped. As excited as 20 9-year olds could be - picture a lot of jumping and smiles. At any rate, some of the parents were to volunteer to cook medieval recipes that the (wonderful) teacher had chosen over the last few years of doing this integrated project.

By the time I got to the folder outside of the room there were only two recipes left. I took them both. Mulled cider and buttered wortes. Wortes? What on earth was that? I was comforted slightly by the butter, because we all know that it can only improve upon other slightly less tasty ingredients. However, after reading the recipe I realized that this was going to be a wonderful dish. One that I would surely make in my own kitchen, 600 years later.

Wortes are apparently greens, anything from the cabbage family. I used two very large (earthbound farms?) containers of organic baby spinach, three leeks, 1/2 cup of chopped dill and about 6 or 8 green onions. Lightly boiled them all in very salted water for approximately 5-8 minutes, drained them and then added one stick of butter to the top of the hot greens. A whole stick?!? you say, well it was a lot of spinach. And it was BUTTERED wortes. Plus I thought if there's anyway to get 9 year olds, who are normally afraid of all things green, to eat spinach this is the way. But here's the kicker, the best part of the recipe. These wortes were to be mixed iwth diced bread or croutons. Now, when I hear the work crouton, my mouth waters, so I knew this was how I was going to kick this medieval recipe up a notch (my apologies to E). I diced a whole loaf of Zingerman's farm bread, tossed it with olive oil, fresh thyme and kosher salt, and roasted them for 10 minutes at 425 degrees conv. I'll admit it was hard to stop popping these suckers into my mouth while they cooled. Luckily I had the bowl of greens waiting patiently for their sponges so I enforced self-control.

This was to be served the next day at lunch for said medieval feast. So I bagged up the cooled croutons and the greens separately. Right before serving they were tossed together, and the warm buttery sauce soaked into those delicious croutons. It was really a great dish, enough so that I have since done some research on other recipes from the 1500's and have vowed to try them out in the near future. Only I'll have to come up with more enticing names for sure.

citrus linguine

Tonight I was creating and planning to blog about a quick and easy yet very tasty side dish. It's a simple linguine with ribbons of carrots in a sauce of butter, pasta water, zest and juice of one lemon and one orange, plus two tbl each of chopped cilantro and parsley. However, as you can see in the picture, my real day job got in the way of the photography. The poor child was so hungry and whiny, but (moms, you will understand) I thought I could get one more thing done before his stomach timed out. Nope. Adorable little chubby fingers reached up to the tabletop and inched into the photo.

Oh well. We'll try again tomorrow for a more professional photo shoot.

Posh Nosh

If you have a few minutes, take the time to watch one episode of a british parody of a cooking show called Posh Nosh. I've been so disheartened with the disgusting-ness of the FoodNetwork lately, that this hits the spot. Here's a link to the episode entitled Bread and Butter Pudding. Hysterical stuff. And if you have more than a few minutes, find the rest of them and enjoy.

best breakfast ever

Well that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm always looking for ways to change up breakfast for the kids. My oldest is doing standardized testing this week, so I've been trying to get a hot breakfast into her everyday. Anyway, this is not an especially involved recipe, but here goes. Make your favorite oatmeal. I'd suggest McCann's Irish oatmeal - even the quick cooking is a world better than Mr. Quaker. All you have to do to make this spectacular is add a bath of warm whole milk - maybe an eighth of a cup or so, and one glorious dollop of Nutella on top of the oatmeal.

Who isn't looking for a way to add chocolate to breakfast?

Tuiles

My second official Daring Baker's challenge took place this month. I had missed the two prior because of the holiday madness, but was anxious to jump back in. This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake my day and Zorra of 1x umruehen bitte aka Kocktopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angelique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

I was excited to tackle this one head on - it being a much simpler recipe this month, leaving us more wiggle room for creativity.

Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

Recipe:
Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes,
baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste.
Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations.

Bake tuiles in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. Or: place a baking sheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking.

Tuile stencils were not something I had in my arsenal of cooking tools, so I cut patterns out of cardstock after I decided what the accoutrement was going to be.

I have to admit that I made more work for myself by making the chocolate mousse from Mastering The Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child. I had never done an egg-based mousse before. Turned out not to be that difficult, just more time consuming than I had planned. To add a creative twist, I spiked it with cinnamon, chile powder and the smallest amount of cayenne, ending up with a spiced cocoa mousse.

In order to signal that the mousse was something out of the ordinary (more to come on that later), I designed a fire template and decorated the tuiles with red and orange flames.

I didn't take a lot of photos of the process this time, but included are some of the finished product.

Tuiles are a great cookie to make if you want to impress. They are not technically difficult to make, yet they look complicated because of their delicacy.

Blue Tractor with a flat tire

Last night I took my parents to a relatively new place in town, Blue Tractor Brewery. The ambiance is perfectly achieved. Seems like they executed the exact feeling they must have been going for. So I expected the food to be above par as well, but I would have to say that it fell a little flat. I'm a picky audience, to be sure. With the Z Roadhouse in town, the owners would have to know that the BBQ on the menu would be compared with the almost flawless execution over there. The menu descriptions were very enticing - so much so that we all had a hard time deciding exactly what we would order. We started off with an appetizer of beer battered onion rings. Honestly this was the best thing that we had all night. The batter was seasoned very well, and they filled that greasy-tapas need that we seem to thrive on.

For an entree I had the cowboy reuben, with brisket, jack cheese, and coleslaw on pumpernickel. It just didn't wow me; in fact it seemed like something that you could get at a high achieving diner. The brisket, although sliced pretty thin, was not the right consistency for the sandwich. One bite and the whole piece came out of the sandwich. The sweet potato fries were tasty, but lacked salt, and the sauce "tomato ranch" that came with them was too mild. I ended up doctoring it with hot sauce on the table. My sis ordered the pulled pork which was okay, however sweeter than I like it. My dad got the "red short ribs", and they were average, easily made better in my own kitchen. What disappointed me the most was the mac and cheese. For a BBQ joint, this should be the thing around which all else revolves. No such luck. It was very undersalted, even my little ones were asking for the salt. A few bites definitely did not leave you craving that one more.

Nothing at the Blue Tractor was bad, but I left with the impression that had they put as much attention to the food details as they did to the decor, we'd have another winner for Ann Arborites. In the meantime, I'll hope they keep tweaking what they've got.

That's amore

::loving my first daring baker's challenge::

When the moon
hits your eye,
like a big pizza pie,
that's amore.

Pizza is big in this house. On many an occasion we'll throw together pizza dough on Saturday morning, and let the kids go wild with the toppings when evening rolls around. They're not that adventurous, but even the littlest have been known to love eggplant parm pizza, made with frozen breaded eggplant from a few weeks prior.

Needless to say, I was excited that pizza was my initiation into the Daring Bakers. An easy way to slip into the fold, get to know my way around the mechanism of the beast.

A few things caught my eye when I first read this recipe (at the end of the blog). 1) Water (and even flour) should be cold. 2) This was a two day dough. Couldn't make this one last minute. Cold-fermentation was required for the gluten to form necessary bonds. 3) Tossing the dough wasn't just for fun - it added to the texture of the dough.




I'd never successfully tossed dough before. I've tried, believe me, just for the drama. But this dough was different; it was easy to toss. It seemed to respond well to the movement.

Pizza dough was our blank slate. Toppings were up to us. This night the kids were going traditional, shown above with marinara, fresh mozzarella and salami. For grown-ups with more daring palates was a base consisting of pesto and goat cheese spread on a par-baked crust, topped with sauteed wild mushrooms, caramelized onions, fresh mozzarella, and asiago. It was fantastic, and it reminded me why I love making pizza at home.

~ BASIC PIZZA DOUGH ~
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled -
1 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast -
1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tb sugar - FOR GF use agave syrup
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

DAY ONE

Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.

NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

dumpling squash

Yesterday afternoon I roasted dumpling squash at 350deg for about ninety minutes, not knowing exactly what I would be doing with them. My pile of squash from Tantre has been getting larger and larger each week. Needing to address this issue, I pushed myself to create.

After searching the depths of the freezer abyss and the pantry, I came up with ground turkey, dried cherries and small grain brown rice.

Here's what I did. Highly recommend this!

• saute ground turkey with generous amounts of extra virgin olive oil (that stuff can dry out like the bottom of my sister's boots). add a small amount of diced onion, 1 tbsp of fennel seed and a large pinch of kosher salt.
  
• put 1/2 cup dried cherries in a saucepan. cover with water. bring to a boil. shut off heat and let cherries sit while turkey is sauteing.
  
• make one batch of brown rice with salt and butter in the water.
• mix all ingredients together. generously but loosely fill each half with the mixture.
  

At the last fifteen minutes of roasting the squash halves, I put a pat of butter in each half, creating the yummiest almost-butterscotch flavor in the base of the squash. This really added to the dish unexpectedly!

Perfect healthy but really satisfying dish for a cold fall evening.

Two squash down. Eleven to go.

daring baker

Just an update to let you know :: I'll be posting about my first Daring Baker's challenge on the 29th.

Americana

I really don't feel any more American after baking this pie of pies. My daughter suddenly announced that apple pie was her favorite. So to appease the child god I baked. But I'm glad I did.

growing our dinner

Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?

deliciously.

This year's garden was a true experiment for me, as I started all the vegetable plants from seed, inside in late February. The whole process was exciting and pretty remarkable. One of these days I'll get around to blogging pictures of the plants starting inside. But don't hold your breath. I've got a lot to do. :)

need I say more?

words would only muddle this glorious moment. well, okay, just a few. sweet tart grape tomatoes with a drizzle of extra virgin, a healthy pinch of malden salt and fresh thyme from the garden intensified by two and a half hours of roasting at 325. we were popping them into our mouths like candy. candy for August foodies.