Boston Cream Pie

Tonight's dessert was going to be peach ice cream.  Until, that is, Victor caught sight of a Boston Cream Pie on a TV show.  he casually mentioned that he'd love for me to make on, one of these days.  So, of course, I took the hint.

It's definitely been a while since I made one.  I know that nowadays even the Parker House - where the Boston Cream Pie originated - makes them in cake pans.  But I decided to follow tradition and make it in a pie plate.

This recipe comes from the Food Network.

Boston Cream Pie

Cake

  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup cooking oil
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • Pastry cream, recipe follows
  • Ganache, recipe follows

Pastry Cream Filling:

  • 2 cups whole, 2 percent fat, or 1 percent fat milk
  • 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Ganache:

  • 8 ounces semisweet chocolate
  • 1 cup heavy cream, boiling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add milk, oil, egg yolks, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed until combined. Beat an additional 3 minutes on high speed and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium to high speed until soft peaks form. Pour the egg yolk mixture over the egg white mixture and fold in. Gently pour the batter into a 9-inch greased pie pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Invert the pan onto a wire rack. Cool completely.

Pastry Cream Filling: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the empty saucepan.

Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. (The custard can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Refrigerate until 1 hour before using.)

Ganache: In a medium bowl, pour the boiling cream over the chopped chocolate and stir until melted.

To assemble pie, remove the cake from the pan. Cut the cake in half horizontally. Place bottom layer on a serving plate or board, and spread with the pastry cream. Top with second cake layer. Pour chocolate ganache over and down the sides of the cake. Store in refrigerator.

It came out great!  Just like all the ones I ate when I lived in Boston!  It's definitely not that Betty Crocker box mix!  I am pleased with it.

And speaking of pleased...

This is what I look at every moment I am in the kitchen.

Cybil lays on her side of the kitchen (she knows not to snoop around the island when "Daddy Means It" is cooking) hoping that I will drop something she can have.  I almost always do.  Sometimes even on purpose!


BBQ Tri-Tip Sandwiches

Ahhhh... the tri-tip.  One of my most favorite parts of the cow.  It's still relatively unknown on the east coast, but it's been a west coast favorite for decades.

It's part of the bottom sirloin, usually weighs in between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 pounds, is lean, tender, and really, really flavorful.  Besides roasting and grilling whole, it's also excellent cut into steaks, and even better cut into cubes for brochettes.  (Which is something I haven't made in a long time...)

Tonight, I made a dry rub of chipotle powder, garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.  I cut the roast into thirds for easier grilling, and liberally rubbed in the spices.  Onto the barbie it went.

I hand-cut a potato and drizzled with a bit of oil and put it all onto a sheet pan and into a hot oven for about 20 minutes.  Perfect shoestring fries.

A couple of tablespoons of the Memphis BBQ Sauce on the mini sandwiches did the trick.

The Memphis sauce came through tonight on the sandwiches.  It's sweetness was offset by the smoky-spiciness of the dry rub on the beef.

I'm really looking forward to getting some Gates Kansas City BBQ Sauce from a friend, soon.  I've never had it before, but understand it is the Gold Standard of Kansas City Barbecue!  I can't wait!  I'm thinkin' another tri-tip, probably.  Maybe I'll do brochettes.  There are just so many possibilities!

I was planning on making Peach ice cream for dessert tonight, and Victor even went as far as top peel and chop a couple of peaches.

Then, as he was watching some food show, he mentioned how he'd love a Boston Cream Pie one of these days.

Well...  Let us just say that there is now a Boston Cream Pie in the 'fridge for later...

Ice cream can wait for another day.


BBQ Chicken

I love bone-in chicken.  It is so much more flavorful than its boneless and skinless cousin.  Not that the latter doesn't have its place, but for putting on the barbie, bone-in rocks.  And that's what we had tonight.  With corn-on-the-cob, roasted potatoes, and baked beans.  Perfect almost-officially-Summer fare.

I used the Wegmans Memphis BBQ Sauce which, I'm beginning to think after several uses, is merely okay.  I like the fact that it has clean ingredients - no high fructose corn syrup and the like - but I'm thinking I want something a bit bolder.  Memphis-style (at least out of a bottle) just isn't strong enough for my tastes.  It gets lost on the grill.  I haven't had the pleasure of visiting Memphis in person - other than the airport, that is.  I'm sure that I'd be swooning over any number of BBQ joints, in person, but simply coming out of a bottle has me wanting to reach for something to doctor it up a bit.

Which actually leads me to another thought.  I am increasingly realizing that I have absolutely no brand-loyalty anymore.   Sorry, all you brands out there who are spending bazillions of dollars trying to convince me that your product is better, is for "people like me", or who honestly think I will pay more for the privileged of letting other people see me with your product(s) in my shopping cart.  I don't think so!

Once upon a time, I only bought Best Foods Mayonnaise.  I paid more money for it. It's good.  It has decent ingredients.  I tasted a few others and realized there wasn't any reason for me to be paying a premium for Best Foods when there were others out there that also had decent ingredients and tasted good.  I still buy it, occasionally, but it's no longer the only one in the cabinet.   I always bought B&M Baked Beans.  Until I read their ingredient label and noticed their "Original" recipe had high fructose corn syrup in it.  Funny...  I didn't know B&M used high fructose corn syrup when they introduced their baked beans back in 1927.  Amazing.  And I don't care how many commercials they come out with telling me how good high fructose corn syrup is.  I won't buy it.  At all.  Period.

It really seems that the more I started reading labels, the more I started switching products.  And the more I stopped buying national brands.  I think at some point I realized that the food manufacturers had no loyalty towards me as a person - if they did, they'd be using quality ingredients in the first place - and it was asinine for me to continue to support companies that are selling garbage as food.

That is not to say that I don't have my favorite products.  I definitely do.  But the odds of me buying something merely because it is made by (Fill In The Blank) are between slim and none.  I think the odds of me not buying something because it's made by (Fill In The Blank) are much better.

As a consumer, there are some serious benefits to not being chained to specific brands and products.  First off, you'll probably be eating healthier.  And second, it opens up a whole new world of tastes and flavors and fun foods.  It's almost amazing how much better ketchup made with sugar tastes compared to ketchup made with high fructose corn syrup.  And that's but one little condiment.

And then switch from factory-farmed national-brand chicken to either organic or locally produced.  All of a sudden chicken has flavor again!

Which brings me full-circle back to dinner tonight.

Bone-in chicken on the barbie.  Gas.  Not charcoal.  Oh well.  Nobody's perfect.


Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Sometimes basic is best.

I had a yen for a chocolate chip cookie tonight.  A plain ol' chocolate chip cookie.  No cocoa powder, no melted chocolate, no oatmeal, peanut butter, walnuts, coconut, or anything else.  A chocolate chip cookie.

I did make monster-sized chocolate chip cookies, however.  I can only be so traditional, ya know...

Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 sticks butter
  • 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips (16 ounces)

Preheat oven to 375°.

Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.

Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with mixer at high speed until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture, beating until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and mix in flour mixture until just blended, then stir in chips.

Use 1/4 cup disher and scoop 6 cookies onto each parchment-lined sheet pan.  Flatten cookies slightly and bake 13 - 15 minutes.

Makes about 24 cookies.

And I only ate 2 cookies!  Self-control is a remarkable thing!


Thrillin' Grillin'

Let the grillin' begin!

I couldn't resist doing a full-grill dinner tonight.  It's been a while since I had the surface area I needed to do a complete meal.  As much as I've been lovin' that charcoal, I know I'm gonna be lovin' the gas even more.  What can I say?!?  I'm getting old and lazy.

Grilled pork chops with a peach and ginger marinade, grilled potatoes, grilled peaches, grilled apricots, and grilled baby broccoli. Grillin' heaven.

There were two stand-outs in tonight's dinner - the peaches and the marinade!  The marinade is cooked, part is chilled and used for marinating the pork chops.  The rest is boiled down to a syrupy consistency and used to finish everything off.  Yum.

The concept for the marinade came from Bon Appetit.

Peach and Ginger Marinade

  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 peach, chopped
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Saute onion in a bit of olive oil until wilted. Add sugar and sauté until onion is golden.

Add peach and cook until softened.

Add remaining ingredients, bring to boil, and let cook a few minutes.

Strain mixture.  Chill 1/2 cup (to marinate pork) and return remainder to clean saucepan.  Bring back to boil and reduce to half or until thickened and syrupy.

Marinate chops in chilled marinade for about an hour before grilling.

Brush thickened marinade over finished pork chops and grilled peaches and apricots.

I rarely peel anything, so the peach went skin and all into the sauce.  I also grilled the peaches with their skin.  I brushed them and the apricots with a bit of the sauce before grilling and again on the plate.  The peaches were pretty much the star of dinner.  I haven't grilled peaches in probably a year.  I forgot just how fabulous they can be!

The potatoes were quartered, drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper.  I used a grill basket for them with indirect heat.  The grill cover was the perfect oven.  The baby broccoli was drizzled with a bit of balsamic and lightly sprinkled with Italian seasoning.  No sense trying to add a lot of competing flavors with that marinade and sauce.

All-in-all, a great inaugural dinner.

I think we're going to have a lot of fun this summer!

Oh - and for those keeping track.  No gain, no loss this week.  Stayed the same.  I'm bettin' it had to do with ice cream.....


Gaseous

Yes.  That is a hand-made mosaic of San Francisco hanging on our wall outside. It was made by my great-aunt Dolores circa 1963.

Under the mosaic is a new gas grill.  Brand-spankin' new.  On sale and free money new.

About six weeks ago, my cousin Marcy sent me an email saying she saw my name listed on the unclaimed money list out in California.  She wasn't positive it was me, but sent me the link.

It was me.

Somewhere along the line, I was owed $360.00 from someone and they couldn't get a hold of me and I never claimed it.  The State didn't have the money yet, a private firm still did, so - not expecting anything but thinking "nothing ventured, nothing gained" I sent them an email.

A couple of days later I got an email back telling me to write them a letter telling them who I was and what I was claiming.  Still not thinking much, I mailed it off.

Today, a check arrived for $360.00.

We went down and bought a gas grill after dinner!  $199.  On sale and assembled.

I know how much I talked about charcoal grilling and I still believe it is superior to propane.  But I'm also not grilling as much.  And it kinda defeats the purpose if we're not using it, right?!?  Right.

So we now have both.  The gas grill has taken the place of honor under Auntie's picture and the charcoal grill has been relegated to the corner by the shed, but it's still there for special occasions.

In the meantime, we have a new gas grill that is just begging to be broken in.

Maybe I'll do hot dogs.


a-MAIZE-ing

Tonight's dinner started with an ear of fresh corn.

Next thing I knew, the whole dinner was about corn.  Corn spaghetti noodles came down from the cabinet.  Posole came down from the cabinet.  Children of the corn right here at our house.

The thought process became chicken and corn over corn noodles.

I sauteed a shallot in a pat of butter and added the fresh corn cut from the cob.  Then some diced chicken breast.  Into the pan went a teaspoon of cumin, some garlic, and a pinch of chipotle powder. (I just wanted a bit of smokiness, not a lot of heat.)

Next went a couple of tablespoons of flour and a cup and a half of milk.  And a can of diced green chilies.  And a mini can of sliced black olives.

Then I added some minced basil and oregano from the garden.  Just because.

I thought about adding some cheese to the sauce and then decided I didn't need to, tonight.  Weigh-in is tomorrow, ya know?!?  (I'm eating homemade vanilla ice cream with melted chocolate on top as I type this... You can tell how serious I've taken this week's eating...)

I also made another batch of those sesame rolls from last night.  And then I didn't even eat one! (Saving room for ice cream!)

That's okay, though.  They'll make great sandwiches.

Or burger buns.


Open Sesame

Tonight's dinner is brought to you by the letter 'S'.  For Sesame Seeds.

I took a couple of eye of the round steaks out of the freezer this morning, thinking I would just grill them when I got home.  Simple.  Basic.  And eversoslightlyboring.  Can't have that!

All the reminiscing about Singapore had me thinking satay which pointed me towards all of the Asian spices and condiments in the house - and the black sesame seeds that I seldom use.  A recipe was born.  I thin-sliced the steaks into strips and marinated them in soy sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil, mirin, garlic. sambal oelek, ginger, and black pepper.

After an hour, they went onto the grill.

Still using charcoal.  I came *thiiiiiiiiis* close to getting a gas grill this weekend, but practicality won out over convenience.  For now, at least.  It takes a bit more planning and the spontaneous hot dogs just don't happen, but I'm not in a hurry to change.  That, and I'm just not ready to spend a couple hundred bucks on something I really don't need.  I can be so cheap at the strangest times.

But back to dinner...

I also had a batch of no-kneaad dough in the 'fridge, so I made some sesame rolls to go along with the sesame beef.

I made six small rolls (about 3/4 the size of a tennis ball) and after forming them, rolled them in the sesame seeds.  I let them proof outside - 80° with 85% humidity is Mother Nature's perfect proofing box - and then baked them for 25 minutes at 450°.  They came out really crispy-crunchy with a really tender interior.

Japonica rice and asparagus and cherry tomatoes - with just a  bit of garlic and rice wine - finished the plate.

I could have just eaten rolls with butter and the beef.  As it was, I ate two of them.  I could have kept going, but reality set in there, as well.

Besides, this way Victor has something for lunch tomorrow!


Just Like Lobster Rolls

I told Victor I was making Shrimp Rolls for dinner.  He thought I was making Chinese Spring Rolls. SURPRISE!

Actually, the surprise was on me.  I bought hot dog buns and somehow they didn't make it home with me.  I mean...  what's a shrimp roll without split-top hot dog buns?!?  A Shrimp Bun, that's what!

I used to love lobster rolls when I lived up in Boston.  And they were cheap, too!  A couple of bucks from any number of old shacks along the water.  Last one I had was a few years ago.  Eight bucks - and I think they waved the lobster over it.  (Okay...  I just checked the menu of one of my more favorite places, Woodman's in Essex, MA, and their Lobster Roll is now $18.95.  I'm definitely getting old...)

To be honest, we didn't have shrimp or lobster rolls - we had Langostino Rolls.  Langostino are neither shrimp nor lobster, but,  in the USA, at least,  are usually a squat lobster  - which is a relative of the crab.  And herein ends your crustacean lesson for the day.

I made the basic salad - onion, celery, pickle, mayonnaise, a grating of lemon zest, and a pinch of tarragon.  Perfect summer flavors.

Oven roasted teeny potatoes finished it off.  They were just like french fries - I even dipped them in ketchup!


Singaporean Salmon

Some of the best, most wonderful, flavorful, fun, and unique food I have ever eaten was in Singapore.

I was a 20 year old military boy when I was in Singapore 38 years ago.  Even the vast quantities of alcohol and drugs I consumed while overseas in Uncle Sam's Yacht Club can't dim the memory of one of the best omelettes I have ever eaten - cooked on wood-fired wok on a street corner by an ancient gold-toothed man.  Or the spicy rice dishes and seafood dishes I'd never be able to pronounce, let alone replicate today.  Almost every meal we ate was from a street vendor.  Fast Food - fresh and cooked right in front of us.   Fabulous and cheap.

Fast-forward to today. I received my first-in-many-years issue of Cooking Light magazine and they had an article on Singapore and the fabulous foods that blend so many cultures.  Malay, Indonesian, Chinese, Indian, Thai...   It's the ultimate melting pot.  It really did bring back some fond memories.

The magazine had lots of recipes, but nothing that was really calling out to me - until I saw a headline that stated  "Cooking food in banana leaves offers diners the joy of opening their own individual packets."

I was planning salmon for dinner, and I had banana leaves in the freezer.  (Of course!)   The recipe was for a fish quenelle that sounded pretty horrible, but it got the little gray cells working...

Singaporean food is a mixture of cultures and I had a goodly amount of the 26 items listed in their "Ingredient Guide" so I decided to just go for it.  I've paid off the Food Police so many times that they don't even bother to show up any more when I play footloose and fancy-free with the cuisines of the world.  I now have a lifetime pass...

Singaporean Salmon

  • 2 banana leaves
  • 2 salmon fillets
  • 4 scallions, shredded
  • 1 carrot, shredded
  • 1 zucchini, julienned
  • 1/4 small bell pepper, julienned
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • zest from 1 lime, shredded
  • juice from 1 lime
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • splash sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp mirin
  • 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
  • splash fish sauce
  • 1 tsp sambal oelek
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 6 fresh basil leaves, shredded

Place banana leaves on table.  Top with salmon.  Season salmon with a bit of salt and pepper.

Mix remaining ingredients together.  Top each salmon fillet with half of the mixture.  Wrap in banana leaves, folding ends under package to seal.

Grill with cover closed over indirect heat for about 15 minutes.

I have cooked en papillote for more years than I care to admit to, but this may be the first time I have ever cooked with banana leaves on my own.  I've assisted others, but I don't really recall buying them, before... They are just too much fun!  They impart a very subtle flavor that would work with any number of things.  The fish was perfectly cooked, the crunch of the almonds played off the steamed zucchini.  The honey added the slightest hint of sweet while the sambal oelek did the same for the heat.

The beauty of cooking like this, of course, is there is no added fat.  And as I type that I'm thinking coconut would be really good in there, as well.  Just a little.  Well...  a little shredded coconut and a little thick coconut milk, that is.  It's also a great way to cook when you're dealing with people who have different dietary restrictions.  They can be individually tailored to each person.

We're doing a Chinese 4th of July this year in honor of the Chinese inventing fireworks.  I'm thinking banana leaves are going to have to get worked into the menu!


Flourless Chocolate Cake

 

Victor made dessert.  Tyler Florence's Flourless Chocolate Cake.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

  • 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 9 large eggs, separated
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
  • 1/4 cup strong black coffee
  • 2 cups heavy cream, cold
  • Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1-inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color. Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs – this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate; then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture.  Add the coffee and mix well.

Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan.

Serve at room temperature dusted with confectioners’ and the whipped cream.

My stomach is smiling.

Expanding, but smiling.


Burgers and Downpours

It's 84° outside.  Thunderstorms with torrential downpours.  Perfect for throwing a couple of burgers on the grill.  And then quickly getting back inside the air conditioned house.  (How it can actually get hotter outside while it's raining is beyond me, but...  such is life in the Mid-Atlantic states, I guess.)

I usually judge a burger by the number of napkins needed while eating one.  The more napkins - the better the burger.  This was a three-napkin burger.  Definitely a good one.

When we went down to get the new coffee pot, we saw Kenmore gas grills on sale for $199.  Nice ones, too.  Tempting.  I probably would grill even more with a new gas grill.  But... I'm not quite ready to give up my charcoal.  It's entirely possible that one day in the future I'll bite the bullet and switch back, again.  But in the meantime, I'm still enjoying the unpredictability of the open flame.

And there is a flourless chocolate cake cooling on the counter...

It is pouring outside.  I am so glad we got the roof done!