Recipies for a Happy Cook

It's That Time ... time to melt hearts

I've been working on some items to offer for this month.  These had to be special.  And i wanted to offer more variety.  Open the flyer to see what i've got.  Get your orders in early

Download February flyer 2010

MY ONE AND ONLY NEW YEARS RESOLUTION

to post weekly on my blog.  post recipes to share. 

i wish i had taken photos of the things i've made the past couple of days but i wasn't thinking of my blog.  just of making soup.  i'm not the biggest fan of soup but when it gets cold there are a few that i do like.  monday night i made roasted tomato basil soup.  it's a barefoot contessa recipe and it's sooo good.  roasting the tomatoes in the oven gives great depth of flavor.  the nice thing is that you can roast the tomatoes a day ahead and make the soup the next day.  i won't post the recipe as i don't want to make any copyright infringements.  just know, like i said, it's a barefoot contessa recipe.  probably available on foodtv.com.

new years eve eve i made a batch of french onion soup that turned out great.  the first time i made french onion soup was over 25 years ago.  i used a recipe out of martha stewart "entertaining".  it calls for about 5 pounds of onions.  it took forever to caramelize the onions.  my tiny apartment smelled like onions for a week!!!  it also calls for an ungodly amount of homemade beef stock.  i've made it once or twice since and it a great recipe.  as i've grown more confident in my cooking i find myself winging it more often with certain dishes.  i couldn't find a recipe that i wanted to use this time so i just used the basic idea. one thing i do differently is the cheese.  i never like all the gloppy gooey cheese and soaked bread so i make cheese toasts that are floated on the top when served.  so.....here's an approximation of my recent attempt of french onion soup that got RAVE reviews:

GAIL’S FRENCH ONION SOUP

 

6-8 Yellow Onions, sliced very thin

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1-2 teaspoons Dried thyme (whole, not ground)

4 tablespoons flour

8-10 cups stock*

12/-1 cup cognac (or red wine)

1 teaspoon Salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground Pepper

Baguette, sliced in rounds, toasted both sides

½ pound Gruyere cheese, grated

 

Heat oil and butter in heavy bottomed large pot over medium-high heat.  Add onions and cover pot for 5 minutes.  Remove lid, stir and lower heat to medium heat.  Continue cooking onions until nice golden brown color, stirring frequently.  (the darker the color the richer the flavor but don’t let it get too dark).  Add flour and stir until incorporated.  Cook for another 3-5 minutes stirring once or twice so flour doesn’t burn.  Add stock, thyme, salt and pepper.  Stir.  Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, for an hour or so.  Add more stock if necessary.  Adjust seasoning, to taste.

 

Place toasted  baguette rounds on baking sheet.  Top with generous amount of gruyere cheese.  Place under broiler until cheese is melted and just starting to brown.  Serve soup into bowls.  Top with cheese toasts.  Enjoy!!!

*any kind of stock will do.  Beef gives the riches flavor and homemade is the best but a nice low sodium broth works too.  I made beef broth with the bones left from the Christmas roast and it was fantastic but I didn’t have enough so I had to supplement with store bought chicken stock.  vegetable broth would work for vegetarians.

 

Today's Harvest

Tonight we're going to see shakespeare in the park.  the company we're seeing will be doing anthony and cleopatra.  a couple of weeks ago we saw the same company put on a midsummer night's dream.  they did a fantastic job.  we're going to have dinner in the park before the show so i have big plans.  i was inspired to go out back and pick plums, tomatoes and basil.  i just love these heirloom tomatoes.  the plums are pluots which are my absolute favorite.  i made a simple puff pastry tart with them yesterday and will be doing the same for tonight.

i think i'll just slice some of these and make a chiffonade of basil to garnish.  maybe a little red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.  we all love pesto so a pesto pasta salad with some vegis added.

this is the second basketfull of pluots i've picked this week.  hoepfully i'll get my act together and make preserves.

this pumpkin is gong to make someone happy this halloween.  we've got pumpking plants growing all over the yard.  allison saved seeds.  several months back, she and my dad planted them in many different places.

these are tiny little plums on a very short tree.  almost more like a bush.  the fruit isn't more than 1 1/2 inches across.  mild flavor with red flesh.  not sure what to do with them other than make preserves.  the chickens like them.

this little guy is one of four new chick we got back in june.  i've got an in with the second grade teachers at our elementary school.  each year they have a chicken unit where they get eggs that hatch.  we've been lucky enough to be the recipients of said chickens every year.  the eggs are wonderful.  the new ones wont lay for another several months.

here's a shot of our fruit orchard at the back of our property.  we've had wonderful summer fruit all summer (peaches, apricots, nectarines and plums).  we're down to the last two trees giving us fruit.  summer fruits are my favorite.

Sourdough and other things

for at least six months now i've been buying this wonderful sourdough rye bread that contains no wheat from whole foods.  it's really delicious but it is very expensive.  my allergy to wheat, among other things, has made this necessary.  i've been thinking for a while now that i should just make my own.  i've made sourdough starte before and really enjoyed the process but i didn't want to take the two weeks that it did last time i made it.  i read up on the subject again and found that rye flour makes a good base for a starter.  i also read about buying an already established starter from a local bakery.  we've got a nice one here in town that i knew used a starter so i marched myself down there and bought this ... lump.  when i got home, my rye flour and water mixture was already bubbly.  i added a pinch of the starter.  a few hours later, it looked like this.

you can see the bits of starter from the bakery sort of floating in there.  nice and bubbly.  after getting back from the gym tonight, i decided to feed it.  i think i could actually make some bread tomorrow if i felt like it but i think i'll keep feeding it for a couple more days to get it to really develop into a nice mature starter.  one good thing i learned is that you can keep it in the refrigerator and feed it only once a week rather than feeding it daily.  not that i wouldn't love to bake bread every day but get real.  i have to do other things like this

i'm tired of buying store made granola that has too much sugar and not enough nuts.  i've had this recipie for at least 15 years and just love it.  i get enough to last for at least two weeks (unless my husband gets into it).  i've hidden it to try to keep it around a bit longer.  i had a bowl before going to the gym tonight.  i'm going to add some ground flax seeds for extra nutrition.  yummy!!!

this is a little blurry.  my girls have been begging me to paint their nails for days now.  allison picked frosty pink and lavender with sparkles on top.  we can't have just one color.  must be at least two.  sometimes five.  i really like the way these turned out.  kaitlin chose a mango color with the same sparkles on top.  when i asked her later to show me so i could take a photo, she had taken it off already.  she must have found a miniscule flaw in the polish.  like that 64th of an inch on the sides that i sometimes miss.  she's a terrible perfectionist.  oh well.  allison loves hers. 

Rockin' and cookies

i am really enjoying that my son plays the guitar.  he took an interest last summer and has been taking lessons ever since.  he actually took electric bass lessons at first but quickly realized that the guitar was for him.  my brother is a musician.  he's been in bands forever and is a teacher.  he teaches at a school and privately at home.  this has given the two of them something in common.  they talk on the phone now at length about music.  robert taught himself how to play van halen's "ain't talkin' 'bout love".  i take pleasure in the fact that he is playing the music that i used to listen to in high school.  you know those days.

check out the finger action.  he's found a website with demos (much like knitting help) to learn different songs and rifts. 

i'm taking  the kids to a friend's house around the corner for dinner.  she's making old comfort food.  tuna casserole, salad, applesauce and salad.  she didn't want me to make anything but i couldn't go empty handed.  i just had to make some chocolate chip cookies.  i use the ghiridelli double chocolate chips.  very dark chocolate.  none of that milk stuff for me.  there is oatmeal in there to make them "healthy".  yeah, right.  the kids will love them.  i should abstain.  i went to my favorite place for burgers with my dad today after i had taken him to get new shoes.  pie 'n' burger.  it's a very old fashioned place.  very basic.  they make the best burgers.  i only had a few fries.  so good.  i go once every few months or so.  one could get in trouble there.  the fresh peach pie they make in the summer is to die for!!!

GOINGS ON TODAY

This is the project that has been taking up most of my time.  it's the jan dress from knit and tonic.  lots of garter stitch with a beautiful little eyelit pattern worked in where the bodice and skirt meet and then down the skirn in three lines (two in the front and one in the back).  this is my first garment and it's been a bit challenging.  but i was looking for one.  it took me at least an hour to figure out connecting the front and back portion.  i realized i didn't get it quite right and was going to leave it but the realized i had made two other mistakes.  i thougt the front was the back and vice versa and then i messed up on the eyelit going down the skirt.  i frogged it to the point just before joining.  my sister was over and she helped me figure out what i was missing on the joining.  all is well now and this is where i am.  i'm quite happy with it.  i can't wait to see it on my daughter.

here is a close up of the eyelit detail.  my daughter picked out the colors.  seafoam and bachelor button from knit picks shine worsted which was recommended to me.  it should machine wash well.  i'll block it to dry though.

i'm working on a dish cloth from my monthly dishcloth KAL and realized i'm doing something wrong but not quite sure what at the moment.  i'm also always making squres for my dad's blanket.  the squares are great to do while watching tv or sitting and talking with my son at bedtime.  sometimes well both be knitting.

so this is one of the many things that i've been walking by all day long and ignoring.  well not really ignoring becaus i look at it and it bothers me.  about 4 months ago i took everything out of the pantry, cleaned the shelves and the got everything put back in all nice and organized.  well, i guess with five other people living in the house (three of them children 10 and under and the other two are men) this has happened.  look at that one tub.  it's nearly empty with stuff stacked on top (i did that).  the kids snack tub (right next to it) is in total dissaray.  i had it all set up with like things put together so it looked pretty.  i guess it could b worse but with the side on the right missing a door i see it all the time since i walk by it MANY times a day.  alas, i'd rather knit.

this is what i made my son for breakfast.  it's egg in a frame (eggs from our own chickens).  it's an old favorite of mine.  my kids love it and i love to make it.  fried eggs without having to make the toast.  my mom used to make it for us when we were kids.  the recipie is from the betty crocker boys and girls cookbook.  i still have the origianl book we used when i was a kid.  it's a little worse for wear but that makes me treasure it even more.  really the only other thing i make out of it is the wonderful lemonaid.  it's especially good when made with meyer lemons.   we had a huge tree when i was a kid so that's what i grew up on.  now we have a wonderful tree here that is in full fruit.  i'll make more lemon curd toady.

isn't this the sweetest thing ever.  you can see where i wrote my name on it.

recipies for chocolate mousse and chocolate buttercream

i thought i'd post the wonderful mousse and buttercream i used for the buche de noel we had at christmas.  you can see it on an earlier post.  i used to make dozens of these when i worked at a little french bakery.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips but must be bittersweet)

1/8 cup cream

1/8 cup sugar

1/4 cup coffee (or flavored liquor)

112 ml egg yolks

1/2 pound unsalted butter

egg whites (from yolks)

melt chocolate, cream, sugar and coffee in top of double boiler.  add yolks and butter, wisk until incorporated.  it may look like it's separating and going to seed.  just keep wisking until it's smooth.  remove from double boiler.  whip whites to soft peaks.  fold into chocolate mixture.  put in container and refrigerate for at least six hours before using (or pour into cups for individual desserts).

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM

260 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped

50 ml coffee

1/4 pound unsalted butter

200 ml eggs

200 grams sugar

3/4 pound unsalted butter

melt chocolate, coffee and 1/4 butter in top of double boiler.  in another bowl, combine, eggs and sugar.  wisk continuously over double boiler until mixture reaches 150 degrees.  add to chocolate (wisk until incorporated).  add egg mixture to chocolate mixture and combine thoroughly.  add remaining 3/4 pound butter, melt completely.  strain into container.  refrigerate.  remove from refrigerator a few hours before needed to rewarm to spreading consistancy.

ENJOY!!!

recipie for excellent lemon curd

i love this recipie.  it's so simple and quick.  i love it with meyer lemons but any variety will do. 

3 whole eggs

3 egg yolks

8 ounces sugar

1/2 cup lemon juice

4 ounces unsalted butter

combine eggs, yolks, sugar and lemon juice in the top of a double boiler on medium heat.  wisk constantly until thick and creamy.  remove from heat and place bowl in an ice water bath and continue to wish abut another minute.  add the butter and wish until completely incorporated.

strain into a container.

this makes 2-3 cups worth.  i gave my sister a jar and still had enough for a few snacks with it and then made the tart.  i want to make another batch this week.

A Little Tart

The is our Meyer Lemon bush in our back yard.  I took this photo back in November when they weren't really ripe enough to use.  Now is the time though.  The fruit is a deep yellow and they are perfect for picking.

I made a big batch of Lemon Curd with some of the lemons off the tree for my dad.  He lost a lot of weight after being in the hospital and recovering.  I decided to make a Lemon Curd Tart.  So simple and delicious.  it needed a little dressing up, i thought.

I had a box of beautiful strawberries.  Raspberries would have been prettier but it still looks nice.  I used all the curd that was left after people enjoying it on other things.  I'll have to make some more this week.  It's so easy.

our fun with gingerbread me.  my kids each chose a type of cookie they wanted to make for chirstmas.  my son chose gingerbread men.  we had so much fun cutting them out and then decorating them.  it's given me new ideas for next year.