Stuffed Pork Loin and Roasted Cauliflower
I had an idea that I wanted a pork loin for dinner. I wasn't sure what I wanted, but knew that two of the ingredients really needed to be cauliflower and arugula. This time of year, "fresh" produce can either last indefinitely (which makes me suspicious) or can go off overnight - which makes me suspicious. I decided I needed to use these before I started getting suspicious.
I made a pretty simple bread and arugula stuffing with ingredients already in the house.
Arugula and Bread Stuffing with Bacon
- 3 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6oz arugula
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Fry bacon until almost crisp. Add onion and cook until wilted. Add garlic and continue cooking.
Add arugula and cook down until wilted. Remove from heat.
Add bread crumbs, thyme, salt, pepper, and egg and mix well.
To assemble:
With sharp knife, slice pork loin open and flat. Spread stuffing and roll. Tie with butcher twine.
Roast at 350° about an hour or until desired doneness.
The potatoes were simply boiled and tossed with butter and parsley, salt and pepper.
The cauliflower was oven-roasted, caramelized goodness.
Roasted Cauliflower
- Cauliflower
- olive oil
- garlic powder
- salt and pepper
- Romano or parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 500°.
Mix cauliflower with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Arrange on baking sheet in one layer.
Roast in hot oven about 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and top with grated cheese.
Cut cauliflower into small florettes.
Vellutata di asparagi
Over time I have let just about all of my cooking magazines lapse. The same dozen recipes kept coming back month after month with little variation. And more and more recipes seem to be relying on processed, packaged or boxed ingredients. We all know how much I love that stuff. Riiiiiiight.......
A noticeable exception has been La Cucina Italiana. It's a fun read, and although I don't make a lot of the recipes, they always inspire me and get me thinking outside the box. Like the April issue that just arrived.
Thumbing through the magazine - actually, sitting on the couch getting rid of the blow-in cards - I saw a picture of a soup. An Asparagus Soup. With a fried egg floating in the center. It was so unexpected. It looked wonderful. I kept going back to it. I knew I was immediately going to make it. Or, at least a variation of it. I was truly mesmerized.
The magazine arrived yesterday. Tonight I did my variation.
2 things about the magazine recipe; the soup itself seemed just a bit bland, and I thought a poached egg would work better than a fried egg. As I said - they inspire me, I don't necessarily make things the way they do.
So here's what I did:
Asparagus Soup with Poached Eggs
- 1 large leek, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into uniform pieces (reserve a few tips for garnish)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups nonfat milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup creme fraiche
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 eggs, poached
Saute leek and garlic in butter until soft. Add asparagus, then broth, water, and nonfat milk. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer until asparagus is tender.
Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. (Soup will probably look like it is curdling. Don't worry. It's okay!)
Use an immersion blender and puree soup. If you don't have an immersion blender - go buy one - they're cheap. Or, puree in a blender - but do be careful. Hot liquids and blenders cause explosions.
Mix in creme fraiche and check for seasoning. Keep warm while poaching eggs.
Ladle soup into bowls and add poached egg. Garnish with a few reserved asparagus spears, if desired.
This was just a totally unexpected treat. I didn't add any other herbs or spices because I wanted the asparagus flavor to come through.
I also made especially runny eggs because I figured they would continue cooking in the hot soup. It was a good call. Had I cooked them to a more normal doneness, they really would have been overcooked by the time we sat down. I wanted the yolk to still be runny - not a golf ball.
It really worked well and I can see this with a lot of different soups. More experimenting to come!
More Valentine Love
Chicken Noodle Soup. Jewish Penicillin. Actual medicine.
Researchers have actually confirmed what Grandma already knew - Chicken soup helps when we have a cold.
They found that chicken soup and many of its ingredients helped stop the movement of neutrophils -- white blood cells that eat up bacteria and cellular debris and which are released in great numbers by viral infections like colds.
Neutrophil activity can stimulate the release of mucous, which may be the cause of the coughs and stuffy nose caused by upper respiratory infections such as colds.
"All the ingredients were found to be inhibitory, including the boiled extract of chicken alone," they wrote.
Rennard said vitamins and other agents in the ingredients could, plausibly, have biological action.
So Victor made me Chicken Soup.
We had the stock made, so it was just a matter of pulling it all together... carrots, celery, onions, chicken, and noodles, noodles, noodles. Simple. basic. Nutritious and delicious.
And just because we always need it, I made a loaf of Beer Bread.
Made with Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA.
Clam Chowder
This has been just one of the most wonderful of days. The non-stop (and still falling) snow has really brought me back to those 5 years I lived at Lake Tahoe. Definitely those thrilling days of yesteryear. Three, four, and five-day snowstorms were not uncommon with storms dropping 10+ feet of snow equally normal. Granted, living in the mountains is a bit different than living in the Philadelphia suburbs, but the lessons are the same. Keep enough food in the house for a few days, shovel when you can, and sit back and enjoy it. Light a fire if you have a fireplace, cook some great meals, slow down and enjoy life.
It's what winter is all about. That in-your-face reminder that it is winter. Slow down and enjoy life.
Slowing down and enjoying life have been at the top of our list the past few days. Today we had steel-cut oats for breakfast, last night's pot pie for lunch, and clam chowder in home made bread boules for dinner. Victor made a Cannoli Cake that we'll have in an hour or so. (And I'll post that later.) We're eating well.
About noon I went out and shoveled a foot of snow from the driveway. By the time I finished, there was already an inch of snow behind me covering the drive. There should easily be another foot out there by the time we wake up tomorrow. I love it!
Cybil is having the time of her life. She's Parnelli Snow Dog running and rolling and having the time of her life. I love her enthusiasm.
Back to food...
The Clam Chowder we had tonight was pretty basic. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a good, honest chowder.
New England Clam Chowder
- 2 6-1/2-ounce cans minced clams
- 4 bottles clam juice
- 1/4 cup sherry
- 5 slices bacon, cut up
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- splash Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
In a large saucepan cook bacon until desired crispness. Add onion and cook about 5 minutes. Add sherry and reduce a bit. Add clam juice, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper. Bring to boil and then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Stir together heavy cream and flour; add to potato mixture. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in clams and parsley. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes more or until heated through.
The bread was excellent! A really tender crumb and soft but chewy crust. It would make a great sandwich bread. The possibilities are endless and definitely one to keep in the rotation.
And now... Cannoli Cake is calling me.....
Steaks
The snow has stopped and the driveway is shoveled. (The front walk is going to stay snow-covered until it melts. The Lord giveth, the Lord can taketh away.) If I didn't have to get the car out, eventually, I would leave the driveway, as well.
All that shoveling worked up an appetite. Almost as much as when I'm sitting on my duff in front of the computer.
So after a big bowl of oatmeal this morning, and pizza for lunch, a filet with bearnaise was just the ticket for dinner. And gorgonzola mashed potatoes. And arugula with onions and bacon.
I pan-seared the steaks and then put them into a 425° oven for about 6 minutes. The potatoes were merely regular mashed spuds with some gorgonzola crumbled in.
For the arugula, I diced up a slice of bacon and cooked it with a bit of diced onion. When it was cooked pretty well, I added the arugula and salt and pepper. Nothing else. Very simple and very flavorful.
I have made blender hollandaise for years - it's really quite easy- so I adapted it for a bearnaise. Not exactly the classic recipe, but it works.
Blender Bearnaise
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tsp heavy cream
- 1/2 cup hot melted butter
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp tarragon
- pinch chervil
- 1 tsp minced shallot
- pinch salt and pepper
Add egg yolks, heavy cream, shallots, and spices to blender. Mix really well. With blender running, add half the hot butter. Add the vinegar, and then finish adding the remaining butter. Blend until smooth.
That's it. And simple enough for a weeknight meal.
Later tonight we will have dessert - more cake from last night.
This has been a really fun snow-day.
Pane Pugliese and Lentilles du Puy
More bread. I just can't think of a better food right now. It's still a bazillion degrees below zero (or so it seems) and the only sensible thing is to stay indoors and heat the kitchen.
I've been making this particular bread for years. It may be one of the easiest, no-brainer-fool-proof breads in the world. And one of the absolute best-tasting.
Today, I really proved the fool-proof part.
Our neighbor across the street just had his gall bladder removed. Since he regularly comes over and plows our driveway when it snows, it is imperative that he regain his good health immediately. I thought fresh-baked bread and a no-fat lentil soup was just the thing to help him on the road to recovery.
This is a basic white-flour recipe. I pulled the biga out of the 'fridge (left over from the Pan Siciliano), got it mixed with the yeast and the water and - exactly 6 cups of flour. I needed 7 1/2. I don't think I've ever run out of flour before, but I have been doing a lot of bread-baking. I did another search to make sure there wasn't a 5 lb bag hiding somewhere. I have whole wheat flour, I have rye flour, I have graham flour, I have self-rising flour. There's even corn flour. No more white flour.
There was absolutely no way I was leaving the house. I added a cup and a half of whole wheat.
The dough came out great. Felt good, it had a great smell to it. Into a ball, into a bowl, and into the "proofing room" it went. (For those not in the know... I just open the heater vents in our powder room and it becomes the warmest and best environment for proofing bread.)
The recipe makes three good-sized loaves and I have generally been able to get them all to fit on one peel. Well... today, they seemed to have a bit more of a mind of their own than usual.
They got big. One was actually hanging off the side a bit.
I already planned to do two loaves in one oven and the third in the other, but as I was sliding the first loaf in, the second fell right off the peel and landed upside down halfway in the oven, laying across the heating element and the door.
Ooops!
I quickly slid the third loaf onto the butcher block and carefully picked up the fallen loaf. I got it into the bottom oven, slid the third one back onto the peel, and got it into the oven.
The loaf in the picture above is the one that fell. It came out pretty awesome. A bit misshapen, but awesome.
THAT is a forgiving loaf of bread.
Pane Pugliese
- 1 packet dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 3 cups water; room temp
- 1 cup biga
- 7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp salt
Proof the yeast in the warm water. Add 1 1/2 c water and the biga, mix till blended. Add flour and salt, mix till dough comes together and pulls off the sides of the bowl. Knead 3-5 minutes in a mixer, longer by hand. Dough will be very soft and elastic. Let rise about 3 hours, shape into 2 small round loaves or 1 big flattish one. If you have baking stones, place loaves on baking peel or on baking sheets sprinkled corn meal. Let rise about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 450°, and 10 minutes before baking flour the loaf tops and dimple them with your fingers. Bake 50-60 minutes for big loaves, 30-35 minutes for small. Tap the loaves to test for doneness (hollow=done) and cool on a rack.
And the biga. I would imagine it could stay in the 'fridge and just keep adding to it as I used to do with my starters years ago.
Biga
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 1/4 cup water (room temperature)
- 3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Stir the yeast into the warm water and let stand until creamy – about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining water and then the flour, one cup at a time.
Mix with the paddle attachment on the mixer at the lowest speed about 2 minutes.
Remove to a slightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise at cool room temperature for 6 to 24 hours. The starter will triple in volume and still be wet and sticky when ready. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
During all of this commotion, I was also making lentil soup. With French lentils. Lentilles du Puy. I'm brave. I'll pair Italian bread with French lentils. Fancy restaurants would charge an arm and a leg and call it fusion.
I call it getting my driveway plowed.
I made two versions of the soup. I added cooked sausage and chicken to ours after taking out half for our neighbor. (I wasn't being cheap. Gall bladder removal = low fat diet. Sausage is definitely not on his diet right now.)
The recipe is for making it all at once. I had a chicken breast in the 'fridge that needed cooking, so I cut it up and added it to the sausage when I cooked it. You can make it vegetarian simply by omitting the sausage/chicken.
Potage de lentille du Puy
- 1 onion, diced
- 6 carrots, chopped
- 6 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb French green lentils (or other lentils)
- 10 cups water
- 1 sm can tomato paste
- 2 tsp Herbs d'Provence
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 lb sausage, sliced
Brown sausage, onions, carrots, cekery, and garlic together in soup pot. When cooked reasonably well, add water, lentils, tomato paste and seasonings.
Bring to boil and then simmer uncovered until lentils are tender and soup has thickened slightly.
Check for seasoning and add additional salt and/or pepper, as desired.
We're not expecting any snow showers until next weekend.
Shake 'n Bake. And I Helped!
We were talking with a friend the other day and she mentioned she was having Shake 'n Bake pork chops for dinner.
It will probably come as no surprise that Shake 'n Bake is not something I would normally have in the cupboard. I love baked and/or breaded things. It just wouldn't cross my mind to buy a pre-made breading mix. It's a bit of the curse of the cook. I often have to remind myself that I don't need to grow the wheat and mill the flour and bake the bread to make a sandwich. A shortcut is using all-purpose flour.
But I digress.
Thing is, the Shake 'n Bake pork chops sounded really good. And since I had pork chops, bread crumbs, and almost every known herb and spice, I figured I could make a reasonable facsimile.
First thing I did was do a web search to see exactly what was in Shake 'n Bake.
Shake 'n Bake's Original Pork flavor includes as ingredients: enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate Vitamin B1, riboflavin Vitamin B2, folic acid), salt, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, sugar, contains less than 2% of paprika, dextrose, dried onions, spice, caramel color, yeast, annatto (color), and natural flavor.
There's not enough of anything in there to kill ya, but I figured I could do better...
I've probably had Shake 'n Bake at some time, but I don't really recall. It's not something I would have had as a kid - I was out of the house by the time my mom started using "convenience foods" - and since I always worked in a restaurant or kitchen of some sort, it just wasn't something I thought of. I do remember the commercials, though!
So fast-forward to 2010.
I started off with panko bread crumbs because I wanted crunchy, and looking at the pictures online, it looked like there should be a lot of crunch. I added just a tad bit of flour, and then salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. I have annatto seeds, but I didn't need the coloring - or the caramel coloring. I needed a bit of oil, but didn't want to add oil. Instead, I added a drop of mayonnaise. I flashed back on my mom making a baked cornflake-crusted chicken where the chicken was dipped in mayo and then rolled in crushed corn flakes. It was really good.
Shake 'n Bake instructions say to dip the pork in water or milk and then into the bag with the coating mix. I decided to use mom's mayonnaise coating and then bread the chops. Just a really thin coating, then lots of crumbs. Into the oven at 425° for about 25 minutes.
It worked.
For those Shake 'n Bake purists? Well... I doubt my chops came close to Shake 'n Bake perfection. I've seen the pictures on the internet, and you can easily see the difference in the picture above.
But the chops really did come out good.
Oh... I almost forgot. Side dish...
I steamed artichokes and since I had the mayonnaise out, I mixed some with a teaspoon of chopped capers, 2 cloves of minced garlic, a teaspoon of lemon juice, and a sprinkle of pepper. It made a great sauce for dipping the artichokes.
Road to Morocco
My last paper copy of Today's Diet and Nutrition magazine arrived a couple of days ago. (Unfortunately, they're going to an all-digital format next issue. I like their recipes but I doubt I will be renewing my subscription. I spend enough time in front of a computer without reading my magazines here, also!) But I digress...
There are a score of recipes - Mardi Gras, Italian, French Country Cooking... But under "Healthy Rice Recipes was a recipe for "Moroccan Mushroom Caps". I wasn't in the mood for stuffed portobello mushrooms, but the rice sounded pretty good. With a few tweaks, it was the perfect side dish for a Moroccan Beef!
I picked up yet another full Australian beef tenderloin today. Twenty bucks. I can't pass up a price like that. The quality is great, the taste is excellent. I had new rolls of food bags for the FoodSaver. I was set.
4 thick steaks, a roast, and "stew meat" went into the freezer. A pound of cubes stayed out.
I started on the rice...
Moroccan Rice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 small tomato, diced
- 1/2 cup currants
- 2 cups cooked rice
- salt and pepper, to taste
In a skillet, heat the oil and then add the spices. Add the tomatoes and currants, then the rice. Mix well, check for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.
Place in an oven-proof dish and bake, covered, about 20 minutes, at 350°.
I used my favorite whole grain black japonica and mahogany rice.
Then I started on the beef. I really should have made these the other way around, because the beef takes longer because of all of the reducing.
Oh well.
Moroccan Beef
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb beef cubes
- 1 small chopped onion
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1/2 cup dry Sherry
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 18 figs
Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add meat to pot and brown. Transfer meat to bowl. Add onions and saute until wilted and lightly browned. Add spices and stir and cook 1 minute. Add wine and Sherry; boil until reduced to glaze, about 10 minutes.
Add broth, tomatoes with juice, and figs; stir to blend. Add beef and accumulated juices; bring back to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until sauce is thick and beef is tender, stirring occasionally.
This was pretty good. Victor went back for seconds - a sure sign that a meal is a hit. And he has enough left over for a nice lunch, tomorrow.
The sauce was silky and thick and the combination of spices really hit the mark. It was just hot enough, with the sweetness of the garam masala and the figs to offset the heat. A cheaper cut of meat could be used, the simmering would tenderize just about anything.
Bob, Bing, and Dorothy never had it so good!
A Loaf and a Bowl
A steaming bowl of soup and a loaf of bread fresh out of the oven. The perfect meal when it's 22° outside. Yes. twenty-two degrees. Of course, compared to some of our friends, it's downright balmy here.
All I can say is B-r-r-r-r-r. Well... I could say more, but this is a G-Rated Blog for the most part!
Victor made the soup today and I made the bread.
The soup was simple. Chicken thighs, diced and sauteed in olive oil, carrots, celery, and onions, also diced and sauteed. Into that went some diced mushrooms and a cup of white wine. He reduced the wine, added 2 quarts of chicken stock, and some salt and pepper.
No fancy herbs or spices. Very basic - and very good.
I did James Beard's basic French-style loaf. I can make that one in my sleep. I think it's time to get creative, again.
I've been out of whole wheat flour for a while now, but I think I'll pick some up tomorrow. Maybe some rye flour, as well! I really do like to get the bread-making gene active this time of year.
Not to mention just how inexpensive a loaf of bread and a pot of soup can be to make.
It's the only good thing about this time of the year. I hate the cold.
Bean Soup and Beer Bread
Back in the Saddle, Again... Or, should I say, "back in the kitchen, again"?"
It seems that Victor has been doing a lot of cooking the past few weeks. It's been fun for both of us, but I must admit I do miss making my messes. Uh, er... I mean cooking.
Since it actually made it up to a balmy 22° today with only 40 mph winds, I thought soup and bread would be a good combination. I had soaked a bag of canary beans last night with no real idea of what I was going to do with them, so the frigid weather made up my mind for me.
The bread was my old standby...
Beer Bread
- 3 cups self-rising flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 12oz can/bottle beer
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
Mix flour, sugar, and beer. Place in buttered bread pan. Pour melted butter on top.
Bake at 350° for one hour.
The type of beer you use will really make a difference! Today, I used Ithaca Beer Co. "Partly Sunny" beer. It's a "wheat ale brewed with spices". Quite good.
I had a ham bone in the freezer, so out it came, along with everything else in the refrigerator. This was really a clean out the refrigerator soup!
Bean Soup
- 1 pound canary (or other) beans, soaked overnight
- 1 ham bone
- 4 quarts water
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 whole cloves
- 6 peppercorns
- pinch salt
- 6 carrots, sliced
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 heads belgian endive
- 1/2 carton grape tomatoes
- freshly-grated parmesan cheese
Put bean, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, and ham bone in pot and add water to cover. Simmer until beans are almost done. Add carrots, celery, and whatever vegetables are in the 'fridge and have to be used up.
Simmer until vegetables are cooked and beans just begin to break down and thicken.
Serve with fresh-baked bread and parmesan cheese.
Simplicity.
Between the simmering soup and the baking bread, the house was totally warm and filled with tantilizing scents.
Tomorrow is supposed to bring more cold weather and some flurries.
Can't wait. <sigh>
Our Biannual Dinner with Linda and David
Twice a year we have dinner with our friends Linda and David. July at their house to celebrate Linda's and my birthday, and the week between Christmas and New Year for our holiday festivities. It's great. They love food just as much as we do. We all go over the top just a bit when figuring out what to cook - always something we wouldn't do unless they (or we) were coming to dinner. It's a lot of fun.
This year, we decided to do a prime rib and individual Yorkshire puddings. I was going to do Trevor's popovers, but changed my mind at the last minute. Actually, I chickened out. I hadn't made a popover or Yorkshire pudding in a bazillion years and didn't want to publicly screw them up.
We started with a 4-bone rib roast.
I don't remember the last time I did a prime rib other than at some hotel or another where I was working. I actually may have never cooked one at home before. And I did mention that there were only four of us, right?!?
The roast went into the oven and the hors d'oeuvres were started.
We started with a baked brie with roasted figs in a citrus glaze. This was an impulse buy at Wegmans when we were shopping for dinner items. Victor saw the figs and went wild. We then picked up a wedge of brie and a star was born. It looked like cheesecake with topping before it went inti the oven.
It was ridiculously good.
And we had crab on cucumber slices.
These were really good, too.
Crab Salad on Cucumber Rounds
- 8 ounces crabmeat
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp minced red onion
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 cucumber, sliced
Mix first 5 ingredients together. Add salt and pepper, if desired.
Place on cucumber slaices. Top with paprika.
We also had a hot artichoke and spinach dip, but I missed getting a picture.
Artichoke and Spinach Dip
- 1 cans Artichoke Hearts, coarsely chopped
- 1 box frozen Spinach, thawed and drained
- 1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Mix ingredients well and transfer to shallow baking dish. Broil until bubbly and browned.
And Dauphine potatoes!
These are fun. One of the hotels I worked in years ago served these all the time. When I win the lottery I want a commercial kitchen in the house - with a real deep fat fryer!
This recipe comes from Gourmet Magazine.
Dauphine Potatoes
- 1 1/2 pounds russet (baking) potatoes (about 3)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
- 1 teaspoon salt
- a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- vegetable oil for deep-frying the potatoes
- coarse salt for sprinkling the croquettes if desired
Bake the potatoes in a preheated 425°F. oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until they are soft, halve them lengthwise, and scoop the potato out of the shells with a spoon, reserving the shells for another use. Force the scooped-out potato through a ricer or a food mill fitted with the medium disk into a large bowl. (There should be about 2 cups riced potato.)
In a saucepan combine 1/2 cup water, the butter, the salt, and the nutmeg, bring the mixture to a boil, and stir in the flour all at once. Reduce the heat to moderate and beat the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes, or until the paste pulls away from the side of the pan and forms a ball. Remove the pan from the heat, add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition, and beat the mixture until it is smooth and shiny.
Add the potatoes and beat the mixture until it is combined well. The potato mixture may be prepared up to this point 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. In a deep fryer or large kettle heat 2 inches of the oil until it registers 340°F. on a deep-fat thermometer. Transfer the potato mixture to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip and pipe eight 2 1/2-inch lengths, cutting them with kitchen shears or a small knife, directly into the oil. Fry the croquettes, turning them with a slotted spoon, for 3 minutes, or until they are crisp, golden, and cooked through, transfer them as they are fried to paper towels to drain, and sprinkle them with the salt. Make more croquettes in batches with the remaining potato mixture and transfer the drained croquettes to a rack set in a jelly-roll pan (to prevent them from becoming soggy). The croquettes may be made 2 hours in advance, kept covered loosely with paper towels at room temperature, and reheated on the rack in a preheated 400°F. oven for 5 minutes, or until they are heated through and crisp. If not making the croquettes in advance, keep them warm in a preheated 300°F. oven.
The zucchini boats were just hollowed out zucchini with a carrot puree - cooked carrots, honey, dill, and S&P. Baked at 350° for 20 minutes.
A simple salad...
And the Yorkshire Puddings...
These were a lot of fun - and gave me the confidence to make the popovers relatively soon.
Yorkshire Puddings
- 4 large, fresh eggs, measured in a jug
- Equal quantity of milk to eggs
- Equal quantity of all purpose/plain flour to eggs
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp beef drippings
- Heat oven to 450°.
- Pour the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl and add the pinch of salt. Whisk thoroughly with an electric hand beater or hand whisk. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.
- Gradually sieve the same volume of flour (as the eggs) into the milk and egg mixture, again using an electric hand beater or hand-whisk to create a lump free batter resembling thick cream, if there are any lumps pass the batter through a fine sieve.
- Leave the batter to rest in the kitchen for a minimum of 30 minutes, longer if possible - up to several hours.
- Place 1 tsp drippings in a Yorkshire pudding tin or muffin tin and heat in the oven until the fat is smoking. Give the batter another good whisk adding 2 tbsps of cold water and fill a third of each section of the tin with batter and return quickly to the oven.
- Leave to cook until golden brown approx 20 minutes.
And then we had dessert.
Okay. I freely admit that I must have been on drugs when I made these. My thought process was to make 4 individual Baked Alaskas. Another thing I haven't made in 30 or so years. The key word to note here is individual. Right.
Chocolate Cake
- 2 cups sugar
- 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup grapeseed (or other neutral) oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line sheetpan with parchment paper.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.
I started off with what looked like a small cake round.
And then it just went out of control.
I drizzled Blood Orange Syrup on the cake because I needed an excuse to open the syrup we bought down in DC at Cowgirl Creamery.
That "small cake round" was really pretty big. It took a lot of ice cream to properly cover it.
And then the meringue.
Meringue
- 6 egg whites
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
Whip egg whites until foamy. Add vanilla and cream of tartar.
Slowly add sugar and whip until still and glossy - about 5 minutes.
The final step is to brown the meringue in a hot oven. One could use a blow torch, but I don't have one.
We split two of them between four of us - and even that was too much! (Okay - I could have eaten a whole one myself, but I'm a dessert/ice cream pig. And another great thing is we now have more desserts just for us!)
I actually did learn a few lessons with this meal - especially the all-important portioning. I really did forget just how big those desserts would grow. I could have made them on cupcake bottoms and they probably would have been just right.
But we had a wonderful time - and that's the most important thing.
And now we get to think about what to get Linda for her birthday... July is not that far away!
Lentil Soup and Fresh-Baked Bread
It's raining outside. It started raining yesterday on our way home from North Jersey. It's been raining ever since. It's melted all of the snow. All of it.
But melted snow or not, it's still cold outside. Damp and cold. Perfect soup weather. And fresh-baked bread weather.
We had the perfect ham bone that just screamed for a pot of water and a couple of bay leaves. It's amazing how so little can give so much. Victor made the soup. I made the bread.
Quantities are mere estimates. Add more or less of something. It's soup. It's flexible.
Victor's Lentil Soup
Large Ham bone – most of the meat cut of and coarsely diced
Large pot of water
- 3 cups Lentils
- 4 stalks Celery, diced
- 4 Carrots, diced
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 2 Garlic Cloves, nimced
- 3-4 Bay Leaves
- S&P
- Tabasco – to taste
Boil the ham bone with the bay leaves a couple of hours.
Add remaining ingredients (except the saved coarsely diced ham).
Simmer, uncovered, until lentils are cooked through.
Add S&P and a generous few splashes of Tabasco.
Remove bone and bay leaves.
Puree about a third of the soup and return to the pot.
Add the reserved ham and heat through.
While the soup was simmering, I made a loaf of bread. I used the same recipe as a few days ago. I formed it into a loaf and after brushing with the egg white and water, I generously sprinkled on sesame seeds. This is a half-batch which makes one loaf:
French-Style Bread
Ingredients
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 cup warm water (l00° to 115°, approximately)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all-purpose or hard-wheat flour
- yellow cornmeal
- 1 egg white, mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water
Directions
Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, a cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough. Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1½ to 2 hours.
Punch down the dough. Turn out on a floured board and shape into a long, French bread-style loaf. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal but not buttered. Slash the top of the loaf diagonally in two or three places, and brush with the egg wash. Place in a cold oven, set the temperature at 400°, and bake 35 minutes, or until well browned and hollow sounding when the top is rapped.
This really is one of the easiest breads in the world to make. It's quick, easy, and foolproof.
So... Tomorrow we are actually going shopping together. Victor hasn't been up to the new Wegmans, yet. This could be dangerous.
We're specifically shopping for Tuesday dinner with Linda and David. Prime Rib au jus, Yorkshire Pudding (instead of the popovers!), Dauphine Potatoes, Stuffed Zucchini, and Baked Alaska for dessert. It's going to be fun, because I haven't made any of these things in quite a while.
The danger is the two of us in a grocery store together. We've been known to spend the GNP of a few small emerging countries when shopping together, which is why I usually shop alone. (Not that I don't keep the economy afloat by myself...) And we even have a gift card.
It's gonna be fun!