October 31, 2010 Roasted Carrots

Adapted from November, 2010 Cook's Illustrated

1 1/2 lb. carrots, cut in whatever manner you prefer, so long as they're uniform size
2 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
table salt and pepper to taste

Serves 4 to 6.  

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. In large bowl, combine carrots with butter, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper; toss to coat. Transfer carrots to foil- or parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and spread in single layer.
2. Cover baking sheet tightly with foil and cook for 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook, stirring twice, until carrots are well browned and tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to serving platter, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

October 31, 2010 Seeking the Perfect Cup of Coffee

I like the coffee shop that opened up in our neighborhood.  I like the friendly employees at the Starbucks with a drivethru on my way to work.  However there are times I don't have those extra few minutes to stop for coffee, and sometimes I feel like I should put more money into the kids' 529 plan than spending my lunch money on coffee, which is why I keep trying to figure out how to brew the absolute perfect cup at home.  You know what I mean: hello, I can deal with you now type cup of coffee.  To do this you need:  good quality whole coffee beans, a teapot, a pitcher with a water filter, a coffee grinder and a french press. 

What I've learned so far is you have to use good quality coffee beans that have been recently roasted.  In a pinch the supermarket brand Eight O'clock Coffee will do.  Always buy the beans whole and grind them right before using.  When grinding them, do not grind them into a fine powder: this will clog the french press.  It will also make me cringe and shriek something unintelligible like "Don'tdothatyou'reruiningexpensivecoffee".  Conversely, if you don't grind it enough, which I'm prone to do, then your coffee is too weak.  Bring filtered water to a boil, and then let it cool for a few seconds.  I remember Cooks Illustrated had said to let it cool for something like 12 seconds, and then they lost me in their two pages of analysis.  I've recently learned that boiling water will burn (some say "scald") the coffee, so bring it to a boil and then let it cool for a second.  Or 12. 

From here, brilliant minds can disagree, or people other than me can just be wrong.  Some say 1 spoonful of ground beans per 4 oz of coffee.  Some say 1 spoonful per cup plus 1 for the pot: harder to do since I use a travel mug and my husband uses a ceramic cup.  My husband claims he just knows how much to put in; maybe he does, he does a good job.  At any rate, figure out how much you'll need and put it in the press while the water is (almost) boiling.  Use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture, as the glass is too delicate to use a metal spoon to stir. 

Regarding how long to steep the coffee, it's in between 3 and 4 minutes, to taste.  Generally, I think the longer means more bitter.  In the meantime, warm the coffee cup with the extra hot water in the teapot.

Finally, if there's any extra in the french press, pour it into another cup so it doesn't steep too long.

Finally finally, if you're the type to compost coffee grounds, I recommend you know which plants require high acidity before saving the grounds.  Hydrangeas are the only ones I know that benefit from the acidic grounds, and we don't have any, so our used grounds go down the garbage disposal. 

October 12, 2010 Herb-Lemon Marinade for Chicken Kebabs

This is modified from Cook's Illustrated:

Makes enough for 2 pounds of chicken.  

3	tbs. olive oil (I always use EVOO)
1	tbs. minced fresh herbs , such as tarragon, chives, basil, or parsley
1	tbs. lemon juice
3	med. garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tbs.)
1	tsp. sugar
1 1/2	tsp. salt
1/2	tsp. ground black pepper

Instructions

Whisk together ingredients in medium bowl. Place marinade and chicken in gallon-sized zipper-lock bag; press out as much air as possible and seal bag. Flip bag halfway through to ensure that chicken marinates evenly.

October 4, 2010 Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Pie

This originally was in an issue of Cook's Country.  It reheats well, but we rarely have leftovers.


Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Pie

1	10 in. flour tortilla
1	rotisserie chicken , skin discarded, meat shredded into bite-sized pieces (about 3 cups)
1/2	cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves 1 minced jalapeno, seeds discarded
2	cups shredded cheddar cheese
	Salt and pepper sour cream salsa
2	eggs
1	cup whole milk
1	cup flour
1	tsp. baking powder

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease 9-inch pie plate. Press tortilla into prepared pie plate and spray lightly with cooking spray. Toss chicken, cilantro, jalapeños, 1 cup cheese, ½ tsp. salt, and ½ tsp. pepper in large bowl until combined. Spread filling over tortilla.

2. Whisk eggs, milk, flour, baking powder, and ½ tsp. salt in bowl until smooth. Pour over filling, then sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake until surface is golden brown, about 20 minutes. (I've thought this finishes in 18-19 minutes sometimes.)  Let cool 5 minutes. (I rarely do.)  Cut into wedges and serve with sour cream and salsa.

September 30, 2010 "Beer Rocks" (Bierocks)

These are from my husband's side of the family.  Essentially it's sweetened dough with a savory hamburger and cabbage filling. 

Filling
1 small head cabbage
2 lbs. ground beef
2 lg. onions
Worcestershire sauce (the recipe calls for 1 tsp., but my MIL adds WAY more than that)
Salt and pepper to taste

Shred cabbage and chop onions.  Brown ground beef.  (Try saying that five times fast).  When meat is browned, remove from pan, reserving drippings.  Add shredded cabbage and chopped onions to pan with reserved drippings, steam until tender, approx. 15 minutes.  Add seasonings.  Cool mixture if you have the time to.

Dough
1 pkg. yeast
2 cups warm milk or water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
7 or 8 cups flour (enough to make soft dough)

Soften yeast in liquid.  Using stand mixer, mix remaining ingredients to liquid.  Let rise until doubled.  Punch down and let rise again.  Divide dough in half.  Roll half of dough out at a time until 3/8 in. thick.  Cut into squares of about 5 or 6 inches.  Place portion of filling in the center of squares and bring corners together.  Pinch openings securely.  Place on cookie sheet with seams down.  Butter squares generously and let rise until doubled.  Bake in 350F oven until golden brown, approx. 20 minutes.  Recipe claims to make 24, but we always wind up with approx. 18.

September 23, 2010 Orzo with Feta and Tomatoes and DILLWEED

I love calling people "Dillweed".  I may have originally found this recipe in a Gourmet magazine.  It appears lots of people have posted it online.  Some say it goes well with salmon, but we prefer the Simple Salmon recipe from the Weber Big Book of Grilling, which doesn't go with dill.

Orzo with Feta, Tomatoes and Dill

3 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup chopped dill (we use dried dillweed)
1 tsp. grated lemon zest (hardly ever add this)
1 cup orzo
1 1/2 cups crumbled feta (6 oz)

Toss together oil, tomatoes, dillweed, zest, and 1/2 tsp. each of salt and pepper in a large serving bowl. Let stand at least ten minutes. 

Cook orzo according to directions.  Drain orzo and toss with tomato mixture. Add feta and toss again.

If you take your lunch in to work like me, this is good for lunch, but don't mix in the feta for that portion until the next day.  Especially if you're going to microwave it, because feta doesn't microwave well. 

September 20, 2010 Chicken Pot Pie with Savory Crumble Topping

From the September/October, 2010 Cook's Illustrated.  It sounded like a good cold weather dish, but the weather won't cool off so I just turned the a/c down.  It's a good pot pie recipe; I'm just not sure we're pot pie people.  I omitted the mushrooms.  I used low-sodium soy sauce, and we agreed it tasted better with adding a little salt back in.  If you use the normal type of soy sauce, you may even have to reduce the salt. 

Filling
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I got them at the Goose)
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tbs. veg. oil
1 med. onion, chopped fine
3 med. carrots, peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4 in. thick slices (I didn't cut them that thin and regretted it.)
2 small celery ribs, chopped fine
table salt
ground black pepper
10 oz cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed, caps wiped clean and sliced thin (I omitted these)
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp tomato paste
4 tbs (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
2 tsp. lemon juice
3 tbs. minced fresh parsley
3/4 cup frozen baby peas

Crumble topping
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. table salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
6 tbs. unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 in. cubes and chilled
1 oz parmesan cheese, finely grated (approx. 1/2 cup)
3/4 cup plus 2 tbs. heavy cream

1.  For the chicken:  bring chicken and broth to simmer in covered Dutch oven over medium heat.  Cook until chicken is just done, 8 - 12 minutes.  (That's 170F on thermometer.)  Transfer cooked chicken to large bowl.  Pour broth through fine-mesh strainer into liquid measureing cup and reserve.  (Don't wash Dutch oven.)  Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat to 450F.

2.  For the topping:  Combine flour, baking powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper in large bowl.  Sprinkle butter pieces over top of flour.  Using fingers, rub butter into flout mixture until it resembles coarse cornmeal.  Stir in parmesan.  Add cream and stir until just combined.  Crumble mixture into irregularly shaped pieces ranging from 1/2 to 3/4 in. each onto parchment lined rimmed baking sheet.  Bake until fragrant and starting to brown, 10 to 13 minutes.  Set aside.

3.  For filling:  heat 1 tbs. oil in now-empty Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering.  Add onion, carrots, celery, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 5 to 7 minutes.  (Mine were too crunchy - should have done longer.)  While veggies are cooking, shred chicken into small bite-size pieces.  Transfer cooked veggies to bowl with chicken, and set aside.

4.  Heat remaining 1 tbs. oil in empty Dutch oven med. heat until shimmering.  Add mushrooms; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have released juices, approx. 5 minutes.  Remove cover and stir in soy sauce and tomato paste.  Increase heat to med-high and cook, stirring frequently, until liquid has evaporated, mushrooms are well browned, and dark fond begins to form on surface of pan, approx. 5 minutes.  Transfer mushrooms to bowl with chicken and veggies.  Set aside.

5.  Heat butter in empty Dutch oven over med. heat.  When foaming subsides, stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Slowly whisk in reserved chicken broth and milk.  Bring to simmer, scraping pan bottom with wooden spoon to loosen fond, then continue simmering until sauce thickens, approx. 1 minute.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and 3 tbs. parsley.

6.  Stir chicken-veggie mixture and peas into sauce.  Pour into 13 x 9 in baking dish (or similarly sized dish).  Scatter crumble topping over filling.  Bake on rimmed baking sheet until filling is bubbling and topping is browned, 12 to 15 min.  Sprinkle with remaining parsley and serve.

September 19, 2010 Pizza Dough for Grilling

This recipe is from the Weber Big Book of Grilling (p. 339)

Grill over direct/medium heat

1 envelope active dry yeast
1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
2/3 cup warm water (105F - 115F) (essentially hot water from the tap)
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus flour for rolling out dough
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, plus oil for brushing crusts

In a medium bowl combine yeast, sugar and water.  Stir briefly and let stand until foamy (5-10 min.)

Add 2 cups flour, salt, pepper and 2 tbs. olive oil.  Stir until dough holds together.

Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead.  (The recipe says for 5 to 10 minutes, but I've never done it this long.)  Shape into ball and place in lightly oiled bowl.  Turn ball to coat surface of dough with oil.  Cover bowl with damp cloth towel and set inside a warm place until dough doubles in size, 60-90 min.  (I usually set the oven to 200F, turn it off, and set the bowl in the warm oven.)

To make crust, punch down dough in bowl.  Transfer to lightly floured work surface and cut into four equal pieces.  Roll each piece into an 8 in. round approx. 1/8 in. thick.  Lightly brush both sides of each round with olive oil and place on vack of two baking sheets.  Slide crusts from baking sheets onto cooking grate and grill over direct medicum heat until undersides are marked, 1 to 3 minutes. 

Add sauce and toppings to toasted side of crusts.  Transfer to cooking grate and grill over direct medium heat until crusts are crisp, 4 to 6 minutes.  Remove from grill.  Add any extra toppings. 

Serves 4.

We make this with any high-quality jarred pizza sauce and a ton of mozzarella cheese.  Turkey pepperoni works as well as any other.  Add oregano, crushed red pepper, sometimes sun-dried tomatoes.