Snow Preparedness

Here in East Central Illinois, we are bracing for one hell of a storm.  Snow, ice, snow.  Oh my!  There's a long history here of storms being talked up to something they only rarely become.  But this one?  I don't know.  Even the national forecasts are putting our area at high risk for up to an inch of ice and several inches of snow.

So this morning, as I was contemplating the potential of 2-3 snow days, possibly having no power, I decided to go shopping.  I know some are running around today, gathering up batteries, water, basic food, etc.  No, not me!  This is the house to come to in case of emergency.  I have more food in my pantry and freezer than should be allowed by law.  Whole shelves filled with pastas, homemade jams, marmalades, and chutneys, flour, nuts, chocolate, canned goods.  And the freezer is stocked with aged meats, poultry, homemade sauces of all kinds, breads.....No need to worry about food here.  Neighbors, if you get hungry, come on by!

So on the way to the grocery, I thought.....if I'm going to be without power (hopefully not gas too), what will I want to cook?  What will I be able to make that would take all day, taste amazing, and bring a smile to my face?  Ravioli.  Yep.  Spinach ravioli with a meat sauce recipe handed down to me from a Southern Italian and homemade ciabatta.  So, wish snow for me, and continued gas service, so I can make homemade ravioli the old fashioned way.  I'll miss my Kitchenaid and the pasta roller I have for it, but perhaps it has made me soft.  Perhaps I'll take pictures tomorrow as I go and keep any of you who are reading this, posted.  Well, that's if the computer is working, which would mean I have power, and OH NO!  No real justification for spending a whole day cooking!  Drat.

2:00 pm Monday:  Here it comes! It's snowing big, fat, perfectly gorgeous snowflakes, just like the ones we used to cut out of paper as children, but prettier, and colder.

7:30 am Tuesday:  Imagine my disappointment.  Power is working.  Internet is up.  I should be happy.  I don't need to worry about my pipes freezing.  I've got music, tv, all the trappings of another day to write my research paper.  Actually, it is not even a research paper. It is a paper about learning about research and how I am going to apply what I have learned to my research.  Metaresearch.....I'd rather be cooking.

Perfect for Many Applications: Shredded Chicken

I'm not a big restaurant person.  I'll go, but I find that I rarely enjoy the food.  It is not that the food is not good, necessarily, but my brain always tells me, "I could do that", and then it whispers "maybe even better." One thing I love to eat when I have to be in a Mexican restaurant is a chicken taco.  Soft corn tortilla with flavorful chicken, cilantro, radishes, onion, lime, and a bit of good salsa.  That, I almost always enjoy.

I know that in most Mexican restaurant kitchens, the whole chicken is used.  Now, I don't mind that, except that at home, I like to try to be healthy, while eating flavorful food.  So began my quest for flavorful shredded chicken breast.  The nice thing about this recipe, is that it can be adapted via your taste and what you want the chicken for.  If, for instance, you want to make tacos, enchilladas, tortas, taquitos, etc. this recipe is fine as is. If you want it, for instance, for a chicken salad, you may want to adjust the seasonings.  All the same, you'll get shredded chicken breast with lots of flavor that is not dried out. I think it is worth trying. I used this recipe today to make baked taquitos.  I softened tortillas on a live flame on my stove, then put in some of the chicken, rolled them up, and baked them until crisp in a 425 degree oven.  A lovely snack!

Shredded Chicken
4 chicken breasts (preferably free range, though admittedly, that is beyond my finances at this time)
2 cups chicken broth
1 can tomatoes, crushed in your hand
1 onion, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 t. dried thyme
1 t. mexican oregano
1 t. salt
6 de arbol chiles

Directions
Put everything in a pot and simmer it until the chicken is tender.  It will be longer than just getting it done.  Let this go for at least an hour, covered.  Turn off the heat and let the chicken cool in the broth at room temperature. When it is cool, strain the lot into a colander, reserving the delicious stock for something like rice or soup and shred the chicken with the tomatoes and onions.  squeeze the filling out of the chiles (seeds and all).  Season with salt.  Add a bit of broth to keep the meat moist.

Rich and Delicious: Saag and Dahl Makhani

In India, there is this lovely preparation called makahani, which refers to a butter based curry.  A curry is in essence, a dish made with a gravy, or sauce.

I worked on this recipe for a while.  My roommate Natasha gets her Dahl Makhani from the local Indian Restaurant, and I always love the taste of it, but it is so rich that when refrigerated, it becomes quite stiff, suggesting inordinate amounts of butter and cream.  But wow, it's delicious.  To make this curry, I adapted a recipe I found in 'The Art of Vegetarian Cooking'.  It's fairly straightforward but will require a special masala, or, spice blend.  For this dish, you need a makhani masala. I'm sure if you wanted to, you could make your own masala for this as there are recipes on line as well as in many Indian cookbooks.  You should be able to find this masala at any Indian market.  In the US, it comes in a small box.  I like the Shah brand.

I added the spinach (or saag) to this recipe for nutritional purposes and also for a textural balance and of course, for taste.  You can leave it out, but then bump up the amount of dahl you use to 3 1/2 cups.  This recipe makes a lot of dahl and will feed at least 10 people.  You can easily cut it in half, but it does freeze well. It has a lot of butter and cream, but I'm sure not as much as would be found in a restaurant, and you're probably not going to eat the whole pot in one day.  It's about balance....at least that's how I justify it to myself.  Eat well!


Dahl and Saag Makhani

3 cups of combined dried dahl (I like using kidney beans, chick peas and whole urad dahl) soaked overnight
4 T. Butter (or ghee)
3 onions, sliced thinly
2 T. Ginger, finely pasted
2 T. Garlic, finely pasted
½ cup makhani masala (you’ll need to purchase this at an Indian market)
1 can tomato paste (about 6 ounces)
2 c. water
1 lb. frozen spinach
1 ½ cups cream
4 T. Butter (or ghee)

Directions
Clean and soak the dahls for at least 8 hours (particularly if using chick peas).  Drain them, cover with at least 4 inches of water and cook them until done. I suggest you taste 5 beans.  If everyone is done, you're good.  If any are undercooked, keep cooking, adding water as necessary, but no salt at this point.

In a separate pot, cook onions in 4 T. butter until golden. Add ground ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add masala and cook 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook 1 minute. Add water and cooked dahl and simmer 1 hour or more if you want, adding more water as needed. Add defrosted and drained spinach and cook for 10 minutes.  Finish with the last amounts of butter and cream. Add salt as needed. Heat through. Serve with basmati rice and chapatis.


Enjoy!

Bring on the Tang: Raspberry and Goat Cheese Tart

I know this may sound like a weird combination, but trust me, it's delicious (Naseem, you may even like it, I promise it tastes nothing like goat.)  I found this recipe on line when I was looking for a lower sugar, lower fat recipe for my friend Debbie's birthday.  I found the original recipe at the site called, Tastebook.  I have made this recipe 4 times now, today being for Jenny and Dick for an anniversary party they are having this afternoon.  I have also made this recipe with sliced strawberries, and another with sliced pears.  This dessert is perfect if you don't like super sweet, sweets.  It is like a thin cheesecake that is slightly tart (from the goat cheese) baked with raspberries.  You may want to try this for your next special event.  I've adjusted the recipe from the original slightly.  You can find the original at http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/982076-Raspberry-Goat-Cheese-Tart

Raspberry and Goat Cheese Tart

• • Sable Pastry
  • 1 cup  all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup ground almonds
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ t.  finely grated lemon rind
  • Pinch salt
  • ⅓ cup unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1 egg
    
    
    Directions
    Place blanched almonds in a food processor along with sugar.  Pulse the almonds until ground (don't go too far, or you'll make almond butter--tasty, but not for this purpose).  Add the flour, salt and lemon rind.  Pulse to mix.  Cut cold butter into 1/2 inch pieces.  Place this in the processor and process in 10, 1 second pulses or until the mixture is about the texture of coarse cornmeal.  Beat the egg and add it on top of the dough.  Pulse until the mixture barely comes together.  At this point, take a pinch of the dough. If it does not hold together, add a tablespoon of vodka (yes, vodka--it will help you get the tart shell together and as it bakes, the alcohol will evaporate).  
    
    
    Place your dough in a 9 inch tart pan (this is a pan with fluted sides and a removable bottom.  Press the dough out with your fingertips, up the sides of the pan.  This is a bit of a pain, but is worth doing well.  If it is sticking to you, dampen your fingertips.  Make your crust as even as possible.  Refrigerate for 1/2 hour while you make the filling.  Place a rack on the lower 1/3 of your oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
    
    
    Blind bake the tart.  To do this, place a piece of foil on top of the crust and fill it with pie weights.  If you don't have pie weights, you can sacrifice a pound of dried beans. You won't be able to cook with them, but they can be reused over and over if you cool them down when done with use and place in a clean jar. I've had mine for 20 years.  Place your weight filled tart shell on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Remove the foil and beans and bake an additional 5 minutes.  Take out the tart shell and lower the temperature of the oven to 325.  Open the oven door for 10 seconds to drop the temperature.
    
    
    Filling
    ⅔ cup goat cheese (chevre), softened
    ⅓ cup cream cheese, softened
    ¼ cup  granulated sugar
    2 eggs
    ½ cup  whipping cream
    ½ t.  finely grated orange rind (I used clementines as they are in season) 
    ¼ t.   vanilla extract
    1/2 t. salt
    12 oz  raspberries (red, golden and/or black)
    
    
    Directions
• Mix the cheese, sugar and eggs in the food processor.  Process until smooth.  Add all of the remaining ingredients except for the raspberries.  Process until smooth.  Pour this mixture into the tart pan and lovingly arrange the raspberries as you wish on the top.  Bake for 23-28 minutes until the center no longer giggles.  Remove and chill at least 2 hours.  It may be made up to 2 days in advance.
  
  
  Enjoy!

• Note:  February 19, 2011  I made this tart today with blueberries rather than raspberries.  They looked so lovely in the store.  It was amazing (and easier as you can just scatter the blueberries rather than lovingly placing the raspberries.)  Definitely worth trying.  Folks went nuts over this tart.  I even heard one person comment, "this is the absolute best dessert I've ever had."  My friend Bob looked me in the eyes and said, "perfect." Perhaps you should give it a try.

Fire Hot and Delicious: Chile De Arbol Salsa

It's Sunday morning.  I'm working on a goat  cheese and raspberry tart, but must simply do something with the extra stock I made yesterday as my freezer is too full (ok, both of my freezers are too full) to store yet more stock, so I'm working on a chile de arbol salsa while in the kitchen.

Back about 10 years ago, perhaps more now, I spent several weeks in Chicago at the Lakeshore Country Club studying with friend and chef Phil.  He taught me so much.  I really enjoyed that time, even though it was a tough several weeks.  A professional kitchen is an intense place.  Like many professional kitchens, everyone in the kitchen was male, and everyone except for the head chef was from Mexico.  The men in this kitchen were all from Michoacan.  After a busy day, some 11 hours on our feet, these men would cook for themselves.  I must admit that some of the best food I ate at this high class restaurant that regularly served shrimps the size of my hand and lobsters, was the food I ate with the chefs after work.  One day, Miguel, the sous chef, made this salsa, and it is one of my favorites.  It is nothing like the salsa we get here, unless of course you know the trick of asking your server for the 'hot' salsa, which most restaurants keep a secret.  I made this for my family over the holiday and everyone really loved it.  It is lovely with chips, as a salsa on simple chicken tacos, with fajitas.  The flavor is complex.  A bit smoky, but not too much.  The tomatillos are slightly sour and give the salsa a very round flavor.  Be prepared, this is some firey hot stuff.  Be sure to wash your hands well after handling the chiles.

Chile De Arbol Salsa
35 de arbol chiles
3 small onions (about 1 1/4 cup), roughly chopped)
6 garlic cloves
2 cups chicken stock
2 lbs. tomatillos, peeled and washed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
salt to taste

Directions
Put 1 t. oil in a large heavy bottomed pan (I use an enameled cast iron pot).  Add chiles, onions, and garlic.  Saute on medium heat until you begin to smell the chiles toasting, about 4 minutes.  Add chicken broth (or vegetable broth, but I promise, it won't taste the same.)  Add the tomatillos and let simmer for 45 minutes.  Transfer to a blender and carefully blend until smooth.  (When blending hot liquids, do not ever fill your blender more than half full, start on low, and have a kitchen cloth draped over the top of the blender with your hand holding down the lid.) You could alternatively use an immersion blender.   If you want the salsa to be more thick, put it back in the pot and cook to desired thickness.  Else, taste for salt.  Once the salsa is cooled, add the cilantro and enjoy.

Note:
This sauce is also excellent for huevos rancheros.  Put 1/2 cup of the salsa in the bottom of a frying pan.  Bring to a simmer.  Crack two eggs onto the salsa.  Cover and cook to desired doneness.  Serve on a fried corn tortilla (I love El Milagro, which are available in Illinois) with black beans and a bit of cotija cheese sprinkled on top.  Yum!

A Joyous Day of Cooking: Stuffed Poblano Chiles

It has been a glorious day of cooking.  Each week, I am lucky enough to have a friend who actually pays me to learn more about cooking. This morning, upon waking, I thought to myself, "what can I do today that will bring me joy?"  The answer was clear.  I wanted to cook.  So I decided to make Bridget and her family something very special.  About a month ago, my friend Boone went to a local restaurant and had a poblano chile stuffed with vegetables and goat cheese.  We decided to work on the recipe and make it even better, which I think we have successfully done.  Now, I'm not going to suggest for even a second that this is an easy recipe.  For, truth be told, it is not.  It takes many steps, and a lot of time, but I think it is one of my new favorite recipes.  The roasted poblano is stuffed with a combination of onions, zucchini, red pepper, corn, chicken, and goat cheese (sorry Naseem).   The chiles are baked on a bed of red chile sauce, and are served with a cilantro cream sauce. The day of cooking also included making chicken stock, yogurt and Boone and I made our favorite tomatillo sauce by Rick Bayless, that we freeze for future loveliness.

I would suggest you make a lot of this lovely sauce.  It freezes well, and making a small batch is no easier than a large one.  I've included a recipe that makes enough for at least 3 sets of stuffed chiles.  It is also lovely when mixed with crema as an enchillada sauce.  This recipe can be made without the chicken and is wonderful as a vegetarian entree.  When planning amounts, I would plan 1-2 chiles per person depending how hungry folks are and any sides you make.  This goes lovely with a jicama salad with corn, red onions, cilantro,grape  tomatoes, avacado and lime.

Red Chile Sauce
8 oz. New Mexico Dried Chiles
1 t. oil
3 c. onions, roughly chopped
8 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 t. oil
1 28 oz. can tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 t. salt
Directions for Sauce #1
Break open and remove the seeds from the chiles.  Break them into small pieces (about 2 inches).  Toast the chiles in a heavy bottomed pan in 1 t. oil.  Stir often and make sure they do not burn.  As soon as you start to smell the chiles, remove them from the pan to a large bowl.  Cover the chiles with boiling water and place a plate on them to submerge them.  Let them soak until soft, about 1/2 hour.  Meanwhile, saute the onions in the oil until golden.  Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.  Puree the chiles in  a blender with about 1/2 cup of the chile water.  Pass through a sieve to remove any residual skin and seeds.  Add the chile puree, broth and the tomatoes to the pan with the onions and garlic.  Let this simmer for 1 hour.  Using a stick blender, puree this mixture and cook until the thickness of enchilada sauce (alternatively, you can use a blender, just be careful not to fill it more than half full at a time and place a cloth over the top of the blender when starting.)  Season with salt to taste.

Poblanoes
14 poblano chiles
Directions for Chiles
Place the chiles (or however many you can fit) on a cookie sheet.  Broil until blackened and bubbly, turning as needed (with my broiler on high, at 5 inches from the burner, I turned them after about 5 minutes and then gave them another 5).  Place the blackened chiles in a bowl and cover to steam.  Let them cool and then peel the skin from the chiles.  Remove the stems from the chiles and the seeds by splitting them down the center and using your fingers to remove any stray seeds.

Filling
1/2 cup long grain rice
1 can black beans, drained
1 zucchini, cut in 1 mm. dice
1 onion, cut in 1 mm. dice
1 red pepper, cut in 1 mm. dice
3 chicken breasts, cut in 1/2 inch dice (optional--I actually prefer them without the chicken)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 t. salt
1 t. oil
1/2 lb. chevre
1 cup corn kernels
salt to taste.

Directions for Filling
Bring 1 cup of water to the boil, 1 t. salt, and 1 T. oil. Add the rice, bring to a boil for 2 minutes.  Lower the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the rice is done, approximately 20 minutes.  Saute the peppers, onion, zucchini and garlic for 2 minutes until vegetables are slightly softened.  Remove from the heat, add corn, rice, beans,  and chevre.  Taste for salt and add if needed.

Directions for Chiles
Place about 3/4 cup red chile sauce in the bottom of 2 baking dishes (large ones).  Stuff about 1/4 cup of the filling in each of the chiles by placing the cleaned chiles in the palm of your non-dominant hand.  Cup your hand and add the filling.  Enclose the filling (not necessarily completely) with the chile.  Place stuffed poblano in the baking dish.  Repeat with remaining chiles.  14 should fit tightly into two baking dishes.  Top with another cup of the sauce.  Bake in a 375 degree oven until the sauce is bubbly.

Cilantro Cream
1 cup cilantro stems (yes, the stems, they have the most flavor)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sour cream (or creme fraiche)
1 clove garlic
1/2 t. salt

Directions for Cilantro Cream
Place the cilantro, garlic,  and cream in the blender.  Blend until smooth (you can even go to the point of stiff peeks if you want a sauce that is more like whipped cream, which is a nice touch).  Add sour cream and salt.  Blend just until mixed.  Serve a spoonful of this on the hot chiles.

Enjoy!

Note:  Boone and I made this dish for a community dinner of 20.  We did some tweaking and both agree that the changes improved the recipe.  So, I have changed the recipe a bit.  But, for a crowd, we made one major change in the way we prepared  the dish.  Instead of individually filling the chiles, we oiled a large lasagna pan, put down a layer of chiles.  Topped it with the filling, then another layer of chiles, then the red chile sauce.  It was a huge hit.  We served this with homemade flour as well as corn tortillas.

Pizza and Movies

I know I should be doing my research.  Somehow, knowing this seems irrelevant when my dear friend Jane calls.  These Thursdays with lunch, knitting, gin-gins, and movies seem much more important and meaningful.  Yesterday, we ate delicious, homemade pizza with pesto, vegetables and goat cheese (sorry Naseem)  while watching "Julie and Julia" and one of my personal favorites, "Monsoon Wedding".  Julia Childs always reminds me of my mother, and the "Bon Appetite" we'd be  blessed with before each meal.  And the irony of watching a film about a food blogger was not lost on me, but don't worry, I don't expect the New York Times to be knocking on my door, or a book deal.  The scene in 'Monsoon Wedding' where the father confronts the 'uncle' about his inappropriate behavior with his niece simply tears my heart out.  Is that guilt and sense of loyalty unique to Indian culture?  I don't know, but I can actually understand the father's dillema there, as angry and sick as the uncle's behavior makes me.  I cried and cried.  Not just because of the abuse, but because of the conflict for the father.  It's a brilliant film by filmmaker Mira Nair, who is one of my favorite directors.

Making pizza is a daunting task, but it is so worth it.  Well, it's worth it if you live in a good pizza desert as
I do.You know there is trouble when your foodie friends suggest Dominos for dinner.

You'll need a few tools for this.  I suggest you go to a local restaurant supply store and get yourself a wooden pizza peel.  Also, do yourself a favor and forgo the expensive and prone to break pizza stone, and go instead to your local mega hardware store. In the tile department should be unglazed quarry tiles.  Usually, they are about 6 x 6 inches.  I'd suggest you buy a box so that when they break (which they will), you can replace them.  In Champaign, they cost me 43 cents a piece.  My oven can fit 6, you'll have to figure that out for yourself.  The nice thing about unglazed quarry tiles is that they are more thin than most pizza stones, so they heat faster, and for me, that is nice, because it means I use less energy.

To make pizza dough that tastes like that amazing pizza crust from your favorite restaurant (imagine that slice now), you need one very important thing....time.  You need to plan to make pizza one to two days in advance so that the dough can "retard", or rest.  That helps to develop a more complex flavor and trust me, it's worth it.

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups tap water (cool )
1 t. yeast
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
All purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Directions for the Dough:  Put water and yeast in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.  Mix.  Add whole wheat flour and about an equal amount of all purpose flour.  Mix to form a thick batter.  Let stand for 1 hour. 
With mixer on low, add salt and enough flour so that a ball is formed and the dough no longer sticks to the bottom of the bowl.  Your dough will be sticky.  Remove the paddle and put on the dough hook.  Put the mixer on low-medium (for my KitchenAid, that is #2).  Let the dough knead for 5 minutes.  Let it rest in an oiled, covered bowl until doubled.  Put in the refrigerator (or on your cold porch) until 2 hours before using, at which point you should put it in a warm place. The dough is best when used 1 to 2 days after being made.  You can freeze the dough after this point.  (This whole thing can be done by hand, or even in a food processor.)  This makes enough dough for 2 very thin 14-16 inch pizzas or 1 thick crust and an individual pizza.

Topping
For this pizza, I used pesto (that I made this summer and froze), carmelized onions, sundried tomatoes, spinach, kalamata olives, fontina and goat cheese.  It is a delicious combination, but I also enjoy a simple tomato sauce (made with a 28 oz. can of good crushed tomatoes, 4 cloves of garlic, pasted, 1 t. salt, 2 t. good dried oregano (I like to get it on the branch at the local international store) and 3 T. good extra virgin olive oil,) mozzerella, thinly sliced red onion and thinly sliced crimini mushrooms.

4 oz. Italian Fontina (or good mozzerella), shredded
1/4 cup pesto (I make mine with 4 c. fresh basil, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 t. kosher salt, 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and 1/2 cup parmesan)
1 cup thinly sliced red onion that has been carmelized with 1 t. olive oil and a pinch of salt
1/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced (I suggest buying them with pits)
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, sliced (not packed in oil)
5 oz. frozen spinach, thoroughly dried out and chopped
1/2 cup chevre

Directions:
One hour before making your pizza, put your tiles in the oven, butting them together.  Set the temperature to 500 degrees.

Flour your countertop and stretch (or roll out, but stretching is better), 1/2 to 2/3s of your dough into a 16 inch round (1/2 for very thin pizza).  Put a few tablespoons of semolina flour or cornmeal onto your pizza peel.  Place the dough on the peel, shaking it to make sure it moves.  Lightly cover the dough with pesto.  Top with fontina and the vegetables.  Dot the top with goat cheese and sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil.  The olives and cheese may be salty, so I would suggest not adding a sprinkle of salt.
Slide the pizza onto the stones and let it cook for about 15 minutes, until the crust is a dark brown and the cheese starts to brown.  Remove it from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before enjoying.

Silky Mousse

After taking my dear friend Carolyn to see The King's Speech for her birthday, I made her a dinner of steak au poive, baked potatoes, and baked tomatoes that I stuffed with onions, garlic, oregano, wheat bread crumbs, and chevre.  We ended the evening eating a silky smooth mousse while watching President Obama give his State of the Union speech.  The mousse was a take on one done by chocolateer, Jacques Torres.  The mousse lacked the characteristic grittiness of other mousse recipes I have used before. This is due to the technique of adding soft-crack stage sugar to the eggs as they are beating.  This was a bit of trouble, so when I need to make another mousse, I will try making a simple syrup and adding that to the eggs instead.

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse

250 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Callabaut Bittersweet)

1 large egg

5 large egg yolks

Scant 1/4 cup (2 ounces; 60 grams) water

Scant 1/2 cup (3.7 ounces; 105 grams) granulated sugar

1/4 t. fine sea salt

1 2/3 cup (14 ounces; 400 grams) heavy cream
Shavings of bittersweet chocolate

 Directions:  Beat the heavy cream to soft peak stage and set aside.  Add eggs to stand mixer and beat on medium until light and fluffy, about 7 minutes.  While the eggs are beating, boil the water and sugar.  Bring this to soft crack stage (250 degrees).  Melt the chocolate either in your microwave, checking and stirring every 30 seconds, or in a double boiler, being careful not to let any moisture in the chocolate.  Turn the standmixer on to low,  carefully pour the sugar down the side of the bowl.  Turn back up to medium and let beat for 2 minutes.  Fold whipped cream into the egg mixture along with the salt.  Once without streaks, carefully fold in the melted chocolate.  Place into individual ramikins (about 6) and top each with shavings of chocolate.  Top with plastic wrap for refrigeration. 

The King's Speech is still on my mind today.  Even more than our lovely meal.  Colin Firth's performance was nothing shy of moving.  I don't normally attend movies, but am very glad I went to see this one.

Tofu Loveliness

Yesterday, my dear friend Boone and I made dinner together after our workout.  We made a red curry with vegetables and tofu.  The curry itself was good, using Mae Ploy red curry paste, but the kicker was the tofu itself.  I purchased the tofu at our local Korean market, AmKo.  It was a firm tofu that came in 1/4 lb. blocks.  I knew I wanted the tofu to stand up to the curry and not fall apart, but the question was how to do this without frying it, which is the typical way of doing this. 

I had seen a wonderful show with Ruth Reichel not long ago where she had travelled to the South of China.  There, she watched as a man made homemade, artisinal tofu.  The press!  So, I pressed that tofu by putting in on a wooden cutting board, which I had put on a slant.  I laid upon it another cutting board, upon which I placed a small pot.  Immediately, water began pouring out.  I increasingly added more and more weight over the course of an hour, ultimately placing about 35 pounds of pressure on it (with a large stockpot filled with water that I later used to water my plants).  After an hour of this torture, the tofu was quite firm.  I lightly oiled it, and placed in in the oven with a bit of salt, for about an hour and a half.  That tofu was wonderful, but because I baked it, the texture was more cheese like than I would have preferred.  I think next time, I will not bake the tofu, rather increase the weight as I did, but instead, leave the weight on for several hours.

One Fine Day: Movies and Special Macaroni and Cheese

What can be better on a snowy day than a good friend, fantastic films, and delicious food?  Nothing, as far as I can tell.  Last Thursday was a miserably snowy day, but I had spent the morning making a delicious macaroni and cheese with thyme, guyere, tellegio, and parmesan cheeses, topped with tomatoes and a New York deli styled rye and parmesan crust, so damning the weather, I headed to my dear friend Jane's. 

I was greeted upon arrival with a "gin gin" (gin, gingerale, and a splash of cherry juice), and we took to her cozy living room.  We cherished an afternoon of knitting, eating, sipping our gin-gins, and movies.  We watched one of my favorite films, "Strangers in Good Company".  It is a lovey film about a group of octagenarian women who get stranded in the Canadian Wilderness.  If you've never seen it, do your soul a favor and watch it.  We followed this with another of my favorites, a lovely film about food, family, and love--"Big Night".
Here's the recipe for the macaroni and cheese I made for our amazing day:

Serves 4

FOR PASTA

Coarse salt

6 ounces dried elbow macaroni

FOR BREAD CRUMBS

3 slices New York Deli Rye with onions and caraway seeds

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

FOR SAUCE AND CHEESE TOPPING

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1 ounce Italian fontina cheese, grated (1/4 cup)

1 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (1/4 cup)

3 ounces extra-sharp white-cheddar cheese, grated (1 cups), 1/3 cup reserved for topping

1 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (1/4 cup), 1/2 reserved for topping

1 ounce tellegio

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

4 oz. cherry tomatoes

Directions:  Cook macaroni in lots of heavily salted water until just under al dente.

Meanwhile, melt the butter and add the flour.  Cook this rue for one minute.  Add the milk and whisk.  Once thickened enough to cling to the back of a spoon, add in the cheeses, and spices.  Add the pasta to the cheese mixture. 

Make breadcrumbs of your rye bread.  Add the reserved cheeses, thyme leaves, and butter.  Put the macaroni into a buttered baking dish, top with tomatoes and breadcrumbs.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until bubbly and beautifully browned.

Welcome!

Hi. My name is Shameem and I am a passionate cook.  I mean it.  If I have a day, or even a bit of time, there is nothing I would rather do (and I mean nothing), than to cook.  My friends and family appreciate this habit, but often wonder about me.  Why must I make everything from scratch?  The answer:  because I can, and because it makes sense to me to do so.  If I can make something for myself, I see no reason to take in the preservatives, extra ingredients, or even cost of having someone else do it for me.  I love to cook, and chances are, if you are reading this, you do too.  I hope you will enjoy my blog.