Gin & Ginger Ale

For the first time ever, we're doing drinks on Amigas Cucina! This may seem like a cop out considering I haven't posted anything on here in months, and maybe you're right. Where are the labor intensive dishes? The braised lamb, the bone marrow? What can I say? I've been working like a maniac and have been cooking less. This allows those around me to step up to the plate, which they have done beautifully, but I have missed cooking and writing, so this will be an opportunity to do at least one of those things.

This brings us to Gin and Ginger Ale. It's awesome. My friend, Alissa, from San Diego introduced me to this drink and I find it thoroughly delightful. It's sweet, but not too sweet. Citrusy without being overbearing. When my sister, Kellie, took a sip of mine she said it was a manly drink with the juniper flavors of the gin. Then she proceeded to coin the term "COCKtail" for an especially manly drink. And for that I and the whole of the world are eternally grateful.

The recipe is ridiculously simple. 2-3 fingers of gin, a few drops of bitters (2-3), a teaspoon or so of lime juice, and about a half can of ginger ale and you're all set to go. Stir it with a spoon or your finger and you've got a fabulous drink.

Note that the high quality the ingredients (any of them) the better the drink. So fancier ginger ale may really do you well with this drink, but plain old Canada Dry can easily do the trick.

Now, go on and enjoy yourself! It feels like spring time up here in Northern California and I personally could go for a drink.

Zucchini Bread

I recognize that some of you (if more than one person is reading this) may be tired of all the gardening blog posts. Probably just as tired as everyone within my circle of friends is of zucchini. But I will not rest until the last blossom has come and gone and I have pulled the plants from the earth with my bare hands, which should probably be in the next few weeks. Honestly I'm probably projecting my feelings about zucchini on to you. It's almost embarrassing to have this much of it. But I am poor enough and close enough to the college experience to be physically incapable of turning down free food, which this zucchini essentially is.
So, here it is from me to you: zucchini bread! This recipe is easy to use and pretty much fool proof. I don't bake much, so my confidence when attempting this was so-so, but it turned out beautifully and used up a giant zucchini. 

What you're gonna need:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chocolate chips 

In a moment of honesty I need to share with you, that the original recipe called for walnuts and I thought "I don't want walnuts. Who the hell would want walnuts in this? I'm gonna put in chocolate chips instead" as if that is a reasonable substitute. It turns out, it was, but just so you know you can put walnuts, or raisins, or whatever you want in this bread.

So first you need to grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. I double the recipe and got 3 large loaves, so maybe I was off with my pouring into the pans. Do whatever you want, I trust your judgment on this one. Then preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). 

Next, sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, nutmeg and cinnamon together in a bowl. 

Like so...

Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. I did this by hand for two reasons. One, I don't like to make more dishes and involving the mixer would have added to my dish count by a large number. And two, I thought, "Well this can count as a work out for the day, right?" And I stand my that assertion. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool. 

Super-easy and delicious. Also, it is a good way to get rid of zucchini, and people appreciate baked goods as gifts. I believe that if you have zucchini in your garden and you try this recipe you will become more popular, if only in your own household. Of the 3 loaves that I made I gave one away and we've eaten the other two within a week.

Pork Tenderloin Over A Bed of Apples

It feels like Fall. I know it's not actually Fall yet, but kids are heading back to school and we've had a sudden shift in the weather here in Northern California. It sprinkled a bit yesterday and today. Just enough to remind us that Summer is short and, in the words of the Starks, "Winter is coming...".

I love Fall, the crispness in the air, the excitement of new beginnings, and the shortening of days. In all honesty I love all changes in weather, which is interesting since other changes seem to be a bit of a problem. But I'm sure that's true for everyone, right?

In honor this imagined change of seasons and the 4 pork loin roasts my mom bought at Costco, I made Julia Child and Jacques Pepin's "Pork Tenderloin Over A Bed of Apples". Really the whole recipe thing is a sham, no one really needs a recipe for this. It is as easy as it sounds. If you don't count spices or butter there are two ingredients in this recipe: pork loin and apples. That's it. Really! Now, the recipe part can be helpful in learning timing and temperature for roasting pork tenderloin, but other than that the whole thing is crazily intuitive.

First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Then, you cut the apples. A simple step. You even get to leave the peels on. Just think apple slices like for a school lunch (you see how perfectly this fits into the season :o) ). You can use any apples, but Gala are the suggested variety.

Then you add some butter and olive oil to a oven-safe baking dish (a dutch oven works great) and put it on the stove. Next season your meat rubbing pepper, salt, and herbs de provence onto it. Herbs de provence consists of marjoram, thyme, basil, rosemary, sage, and fennel seeds generally, but in a pinch you can use whatever of those you have on hand.

Once you've seasoned you loin, brown the meat on all sides in the butter. After the meat is brown, remove it from the dish, add the apples to the bottom, and give it a quick stir. Sprinkle 2 tsp of salt, 1 Tbsp of sugar, and 1/2 tsp of pepper onto the apples (or season to taste as Julia was fond of saying). Then put the roast onto the bed of apples and place in the oven.

The roast will take 40-60 minutes to cook. Baste with it's own juices throughout the cooking time. I timed it to about every 20 minutes and had beautiful results. Start checking the temperature of the meat at around 40 minutes-- you'll want it to be 150 degrees-- and you should be good.

Once you've hit that sweet spot, take the roast out of the oven place of the rack to cool for 10 minutes before slicing. 

This was beautiful and delicious! The most tender pork I've had in ages. There's a tendency in my family to overcook pork and it ends up dry and needs a lot of help with sauces and things to work well. All this needed was the apples. So good! Buon Appetit!

Spaghetti Sauce

So here we are again, with yet another garden based post. What can I say? It's summer, the garden's growing, and I've got to find some way to use up all this produce so it doesn't go bad. I've mentioned before how plentiful the garden is, and a person can only make so many veggie fairy drops to friends before she begins to feel a little like a Mormon missionary. People are polite, but how many zucchinis and tomatoes can their family stand? I imagine just as much as mine, but we don't want to overwhelm them.

Tomatoes ready to peeled.

In April we got 6 tomato plants from Costco. They're all different varieties, two of which produce cherry tomatoes. These suckers are throwing off fruit like gangbusters. From what we've heard other people have had some trouble with their tomatoes this year. My aunt and grandma, who are gardening goddesses with magical green thumbs, even got some from us because their tomatoes weren't producing big fruit, just little guys. We have one plant called "Big Beefy" and he produces tomatoes the size of softballs. These guys are so big they almost tip the plant. We do recognize that this harvest was mostly based on luck, but we're enjoying having been so lucky!

So, suffice it to say, we've had a number of tomatoes, and a need to make sure they don't just rot on our counter. So far this summer, my mom and I have processed over 120 pounds of tomatoes. And that's not including the ones we've used fresh. I've made tapatio sauce (as you've seen-- the second time I did it I upped the peppers and it was spicier, which I think is better), canned tomatoes, and spaghetti sauce-- which is the theme of this blog post.

Homemade canned spaghetti sauce is amazing. Working with the spices and fresh ingredients gives me a place to experiment and be creative. And it also makes you feel like a domestic pro to complete the process. Of course after you've completed it, you will crash in front of the TV with a glass of wine and a bagful of candy corn. But what makes that so different from any other night? And this way you'll have spaghetti sauce in the end. So everybody wins!

Ingredients
 20-25 pounds fresh tomatoes
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1-2 bell peppers (use what you've got in the garden if you have them)
fresh basil (I don't measure this, just put as much in as you want-- around 1/4 cup)
2-3 bay leaves
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 lemon juice

To start core and score the tomatoes and peel them like I showed you here (http://amigascucina.blogspot.com/2012/08/tapatio-sauce.html). This process takes the most time, but you need to do it, the peels become bitter over time and the sauce will not be great if you leave them on.

After they look like this. So pretty right?

Then chop the onion and mince the garlic. Saute in olive oil over medium heat. This will take about 3-5 minutes. After the onions are translucent and you kitchen smells like heaven, add the tomatoes and all other remaining ingredients (yes it is a very simple process). Let cook down, stirring occasionally, and smashing up the tomatoes where necessary. I usually let my sauce cook at least two hours and I taste and fiddle with the spices as I go. The longer it cooks--without burning-- the more the enhanced the flavors will be.

We had so many tomatoes we ended up with 3 pots full of sauce on the stove.

Recipes I've seen have varied on the cooking times dramatically. The shortest was 30 minutes, but I believe that woman finesses her sauce at the time she's using it in the meal. So her canned sauce is less flavorful. To me the point of having it canned is that it's all ready to go and I can just throw it into something, but to each his or her own.

So after your satisfied with your sauce now you get to start the canning process. Fill the canning jars (I suggest using quart jars, but I feed a family of 6) within a 1/4 in of the top. Seat the lid and hand tighten the ring around the top.

So close to the end...

Then you get to boil the canning jars. You put the jars in the canner and keep them covered with at least 1 inch of water. Keep the water boiling. Process the jars in a boiling-water bath for 35 minutes for pints and 40 minutes for quarts.

And voila! You have your very own homemade spaghetti sauce canned and ready to go! 

Zucchini Latkes

Our garden in early July

So it’s August. We planted in May, I moved in February, and now it’s August. The garden’s a lush green drag-queeny space. Flamboyant and wild. Because it is my mom and I who are responsible for the garden, we will not control it out of its natural state. We’re loath to attempt to control anything and thus end up with willful pets, exuberant gardens, and long relationships.

This is the first time either of us has been particularly successful with gardening. I used to think that black thumb was something we had in common. It bound us together and solidified my understanding that she and I are of the same stuff. 

My dad’s side of the family can nurse any plant back to life. You can take them a clearly dead fern and within a few weeks of their care it has been resurrected! They plant and then reap in what seems like an effortless fashion. My grandfather even hybridized flowers, which speaks to the desire for control that my grandfather and much of the rest of that side of the family share, that my mom and I do not--- or at least not so much.

For reasons to numerous and complex to explain, my mom and I wanted to reclaim the earth this year. We wanted to nurture something and then have shareable results. We, with the help of other family members, turned the soil, planted the garden, and tend to it daily. There is something deeply therapeutic in the process of nurturing this piece of land with its sunflowers, zucchinis, tomatoes, peppers, and beans. Maybe it’s how symbiotic the relationship is. We nurture and water the plants giving them what we believe they need and in return they give us food.

The food our garden gives us most is zucchini. Those plants produce like rabbits. Every morning there are more zucchinis. We eat them constantly. I’ve pawned them off on friends, neighbors, repairmen, you name it. For the first time in my life I embarrassed my dad, when I considered asking the folks installing our air-conditioner if they would like some veggies to take home. 

I spy with my little eye... more zucchini!

My family may be growing tired of zucchini. “May” is actually an understatement, and “growing” is wishful thinking. The people in my house are sick of zucchini. I get rolled eyes when I bring more inside each morning. I can sense the troops are getting restless and I've got a mutiny on my hands--- "The Zucchini Uprising of 2012", but it’s essentially free food so what can I do?

I personally consider the current bounty a challenge to my culinary prowess. How can I get my family to eat zucchini? We’ve had zucchini bread, zucchini cakes, zucchini muffins, zucchini casserole, stir-fried zucchini, sautéed zucchini, zucchini parmesan, grilled zucchini. The list goes on and on. Which brings us to today: zucchini latkes!

Honestly, I loved them. Midway through cooking them I decided to triple the recipe because I was afraid there wouldn’t be enough. And by enough, I mean enough for me. I was ready to hoard them and not share at all.

Now, if you’ve never had latkes, first of all you need to—as soon as possible, and secondly they are little potato pancakes. Imagine little discs of fried hashbrowns and you’ve got the idea.

The recipe is absurdly simple. One medium sized zucchini, one large baking potato (peeled), one onion (peeled), one egg, one cup matzo meal (or bread crumbs), salt, pepper, a little lemon juice and you’re golden. So first you grate the zucchini, potato, and onion (I tripled the recipe—so three of each for me). Then you squeeze out the excess juice and water in a colander. Then you put the mixture in a bowl add the egg, matzo meal, salt, pepper, and lemon juice and mix it together like you would a meatloaf (i.e. use your hands and incorporate the ingredients evenly).  

Zucchini latkes sizzling in the pan!

Then heat about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a pan. Take a heaping teaspoon of the mixture put it in the pan, press it with the back of the spatula (it will end up being about the circumference of your fist, but flat). After about 2 minutes flip it and then after another 2 minutes you should have a finished latke to transfer to a plate with paper-towels (to soak up the grease). The latkes should be golden brown and tempting.  Add oil to the pan as you go through this process. I did about 4 latkes at a time in my pan. 

Serve these babies with sour cream and apple sauce and ENJOY!! We ate ours with roasted pork loin (which my mom thought, might be a little less than kosher--- it technically is, but all the same I think it’s ok), and tomatoes with basil and cheese. 

Tapatio Sauce

Ok, so after almost a 2 year hiatus, WE'RE BACK! And we're no longer 500 miles apart. I've finished grad school and am working in the SF Bay Area in private practice. So Xochi and I have shrunk our distance by about 400 miles which is a great start.

One good thing about having moved is that now I have an amazing garden in my backyard. This amazing garden comes at the price of living with my parents, my sister, brother-in-law, and nephews-- I'm still evaluating to see if it's worth it. It's a close call. But I feel things coming out in favor of the garden--- and the family.

One great thing about having so much produce is all the crazy canning and food processing that I am learning to do. So in an effort to make use of our jalapenos and our pleuthora of tomatoes I made homemade tapatio sauce. My dad and BIL (brother-in-law) put hot sauce on most everything. I decided that instead of being mildly offended when they smother my phenomenal food with hot sauce, I could take pride in the hot sauce itself and so I have. (Note to my dad, if you're reading this, hot sauce does not belong on a lemon and asparagus risotto. It's not culinarily appropriate).

So back to the project at hand. I made tapatio sauce with ingredients fresh from our garden and it was amazing. If you are going to attempt this recipe I recommend using garden fresh, in season, ingredients. It just tastes better that way. I could have stood a little more heat, but the flavors are wonderful. If you want a bit more kick, use more peppers and cook the sauce for a longer period. The longer peppers have to incorporate into the mixture the spicier the end result.

Here's the recipe (adapted from Sustainableeats.com)

Ingredients:

7 jalapeno peppers
1 gallon peeled, seeded tomatoes
2 onions
4 green bell peppers (our garden had green, but you can use red if you like)
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup canning salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 cup apple cider vinegar

Technique:

To peel tomatoes I followed these directions from pickyourown.com (http://www.pickyourown.org/canning_diced_tomato.htm). First of all, put the tomatoes, a few at a time in a large pot of boiling water for no more than 1 minute (30 - 45 seconds is usually enough). Then, plunge them into a waiting bowl of ice water. The skins will slide right off of the tomatoes AND you won't burn the shit out of your fingers in the process! Trust me. I've tried it without the icebath and it's a pain. This way's much better. 

So to be fair, these guys suggest removing the seeds from the tomatoes. I bet that would be cool. I don't have a food mill, and I had just processed 16 quarts of tomatoes before this, so I wasn't about to add a step I felt was tedious and not entirely necessary, however, if you want to remove the seeds, go for it!

Next, chop all the ingredients, combine them with the peeled (and seeded) tomatoes and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Use an immersion blender, food processor or blender to create a nice sauce-like texture. Fill half pint canning jars and process in a water bath for 15 minutes.

I got about 10 half pint jars from this recipe. Enjoy with your next spicy meal! (Or if you're my dad just cover anything on your plate with it. Love you Daddy!) 

Birthday Dinner

I'm back! And better than ever. Ok that may be an overstatement. But I'm doing well and am putting up a long overdue post. In my defense I did loose my camera which slowed the whole posting business.

Anyhow, for my birthday last week I had family dinner with Chad(cousin), Lindsey (cousin's wife), Kenna (cousin), Evan (cousin's finance), and Mike (good friend from school). The original plan for the evening involved going out, but honestly I am more of a homebody than anything else, as you know Miss Xochi, and I love to cook for people and entertain, so this was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday. It was actually a gift for me to be able to cook and then just relax at home.

When deciding what to make I kept thinking of the Gordon Ramsay lamb shanks that I have posted on here before ( http://amigascucina.blogspot.com/2010/03/braised-lamb-shanks.html ). The sauce haunts my dreams it's so good. So, I made the lamb shanks, mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, and for dessert drunken bananas. By the end of the meal I was so happy from all the good food vibes and happy family and friends time. I slept so deeply after everyone left, it was incredible.
Pictures from the meal are provided by Lindsey, my cousin's wife. She brought her camera over to take pictures of the food and I'm so glad she did. I LOVE Lindsey! She's the best. We forgot to photograph dessert though. I must had been too blissed-out over the food to remember, plus beer and things were consumed which make me relaxed and more forgetful.

Each of us had a whole shank for ourselves, which means that there was A LOT of food. Out of all of us, only Mike entered the "clean plate club". Everyone else had food left on our plates. That worked out just fine for Ruby though, she loved getting leftovers.

I wish you could have been there Xochi! I kept offering people tastes of the sauce as I was making it. I LOVED it! If I had been by myself I would have been a bit more amorous with the sauce. I think everyone else felt just as passionately as I did about the sauce, although it's hard to imagine someone equaling the intensity of feeling I have about that stuff. I wish I could make lip gloss out of it. *Yum*

So despite the lack of pictures of the final product, I would like to post the instructions for the "Drunken Bananas". It's basically just bananas foster, but I get a little scared/lazy to light it on fire. So it's simple, basic and completely delicious.

Ingredients

4 ripe bananas
2 shots brandy (you can use rum or any other brown alcohol I think, but I had brandy for cooking at my house so I used it)
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp brown sugar (I didn't use measuring utensils for this, but guessing worked out pretty well).
1 tsp cinnamon

Start by slicing the bananas. Then you melt the butter in a large sauce pan. Add the bananas. Coat the bananas with butter. After the bananas are coated add brown sugar and cinnamon. Add the brandy. Do not pour directly from the bottle to the pan. I guess this is a fire hazard. I just put the alcohol into a shot glass first. Then continue to cook the bananas until the liquid is a sauce-like consistency. This help the dessert from not tasting too much like alcohol and gives all the flavors the chance to saturate each other.

Serve over ice cream and enjoy! I've also found that these bananas make a great filling for crepes. You could even put the ice cream or nutella in the crepe with them, but that might be taking things just a little too far.

Raspberry Bavarian Cream

Tony is allergic to raspberries. I found this out this weekend when I decided to attempt Raspberry Bavarian Cream from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Tony and I had gone to the store and raspberries were ridiculously on sale- 16 ounces for $2.00. So of course we bought two containers. I needed a way to use up a bunch quickly because berries don’t stay good for long, so I pulled out Julia Child’s book and settled on this fantastic dessert (I was already thinking of doing this because I watched Julie and Julia this weekend). I used up almost all of one container and Tony scarfed down almost all of the other one. A few hours later the Bavarian Cream was done and a very red Tony and I rushed to Nugget to get Benadryl. *sigh*Looks like Chocolate Bavarian Cream from now on. ;)

Begin by thoroughly mixing 1 1/2Tbs gelatin (1 1/2 packages) with 3/4c orange juice. Set aside to soften. Separate 5 eggs. Place the yolks in a medium bowl along with 1/2c sugar and beat with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes or until the mixture is a pale yellow color and it forms a ribbon when pulled away by the beaters.

In a medium sauce pan, bring 1 and 3/4c milk to a boil on the stove. In the meantime, beat 1tsp cornstarch into the yolk mixture. When the milk is boiling, transfer it to a cup with a spout (I used my measuring cup) and slowly dribble it into the yolk mixture while beating with the electric beaters. Seriously, do this SLOWLY so the yolks don’t scramble. Pour the mixture back into the medium sauce pan and set over medium low heat. Stir slowly and constantly with a wooden spoon, scraping all along the bottom and sides until the mixture reaches 170 degrees (I used a meat thermometer) and lightly coats the back of your spoon. Don’t allow the mixture simmer! Remove from the heat and beat in 1Tbs vanilla extract. You could stop here and serve this light custard sauce warm, or you can continue on by immediately beating in the orange juice and gelatin mixture. Mix until it is completely incorporated. Rinse the medium mixing bowl and transfer the orange custard to it. Set aside to cool.

Puree about 12 ounces of raspberries in a food processor or blender. Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove all seeds. You should have between 3/4c ~ 1c berry puree. Cover and set in the refrigerator. Using a wire whisk electric blender, whip 1/2c heavy whipping cream in a small bowl until stiff peaks form. Cover and set in the refrigerator.

Place the reserved egg whites in a medium bowl along with a pinch of salt. Using beater attachments on an electric mixer, beat the tar out of the whites until soft peaks form.

Sprinkle in 1Tbs granulated sugar and continue beating until the mixture becomes stiff and glossy and you can form stiff peaks with your beaters. Delicately fold this mixture into your warm custard by adding about 1/3 of the egg white mixture at a time and gently folding and scooping using a rubber spatula. The first addition will be lost in the custard, but the next two additions should make the custard noticeably lighter and fluffier. Be sure not to stir, but fold! Pop out a full tray of ice cubes into a large bowl along with 2 cups of cold water and place the medium bowl filled with the custard mixture inside to cool quickly. Gently fold the custard mixture frequently to keep it from separating.

When the mixture is cold, but not quite set, gently stir in the raspberry puree. You can leave it swirled or mix it in completely so it’s a uniform pink color (I kind of wish I’d left it marbled).

Gently swirl in the reserved whipped cream. Make a pretty pattern with this one, it’s all about looks now. At this point, Julia says to put the custard in a serving mold and then refrigerate for 3 ~ 4 hours or overnight, then pop the custard out of the mold and serve it on a chilled plate. I don’t actually have a pretty desert mold, so I left the custard in that yellow bowl and scooped out about half a cup full as I wanted it, served with a slice of Sara Lee pound cake and fresh raspberries. Oh my God Sarah, this was so good! The raspberries are just one option- you could do this with any pureed fruit, any juice, chocolate, whatever! It was rich and satisfying and took forever to make, but was so worth it. I wish you were here to eat it with me! After Tony’s rather scary immune response, he decided to not partake in the finished product. Bummer for him, but OH MAN I seriously enjoyed licking this bowl clean. :)

 

del.icio.us Tags: Raspberries,Bavarian Cream,Julia Child,Dessert,Custard,Xochi

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

It’s the height of summer and the Davis farmer’s market is bursting with produce. I went there this morning and loaded up on green beans, corn, celery, Meyer lemons, and was really excited to see squash blossoms! They were kind of wilted (I got there just before closing), but they called to me from their box, just begging to be bought. The guy cut me a deal (12 for $1.00 = half off, crazy right?) and I walked away smiling. I have a recipe I put in my personal recipe book last year, right around when I first started it, for fried stuffed zucchini blossoms (1) that I never got to try because the season for vegetable blossoms ended so quickly. It’s an Italian appetizer and right after snapping the shot above, me and the guys gobbled each and every fried blossom down.

To begin, you’ll need squash blossoms, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, salt, flour, baking powder, seltzer water, and oil for frying. Gently wash the blossoms and remove the pistils.

Slice the mozzarella into 1/4" wide pieces a little bit shorter than the length of the blossoms. Pick one basil leaf per flower. Roll a piece of mozzarella in a basil leaf and stuff into a blossom.

Gently twist the ends of the flower to close. Repeat until all of the blossoms have been stuffed. Pour about 1" of vegetable oil into a pan and set over medium high heat. Prepare the batter by mixing together 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp baking powder. Slowly whisk in 3/4 cup seltzer water to make a thin crepe-like batter. Test the heat of the oil by dripping a bit of the batter into the pan. When the batter immediately begins to bubble up, the oil is hot enough. Turn the hit down a smidge to maintain temperature without scorching the blossoms. Using two forks, dip a stuffed blossom into the batter and completely coat it. Transfer to the pan. Repeat until the pan is full, but not overly crowded.

Allow the blossoms to fry, turning occasionally, until slightly browned and the cheese starts to melt (3 ~ 4 minutes). Using a slotted spoon or small spider, transfer the blossoms to a paper towel-lined plate. Immediately sprinkle with salt. Repeat until all blossoms have been fried. Serve hot and enjoy!

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Ingredients

• 12 squash blossoms, pistils removed
• 12 1/4"-wide pieces of fresh mozzarella
• 12 fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup seltzer water
• vegetable oil for frying

Method

Carefully rinse the blossoms. Stuff each one with a mozzarella piece wrapped in a basil leaf. Gently twist the tips of the petals to close. Place about 1" of oil in a pan over medium high heat. In a small bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly whisk in the seltzer water. Test the heat of the oil by dropping in a bit of batter to see if it sizzles. Turn the heat down a smidge to maintain temperature. Using two forks, dip a stuffed blossom into the batter and transfer to the hot oil. Repeat until the pan is full, but not overly crowded. Allow the blossoms to cook, turning occasionally, for 3 ~ 4 minutes or until they become slightly brown and the cheese melts. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the blossoms to a plate lined with paper towels. Immediately sprinkle with salt. Repeat until all blossoms have been cooked. Serve hot and enjoy!

 

(1) http://www.lifesambrosia.com/2009/07/fried-stuffed-zucchini-blossoms-recipe.html

Garlic Bacon Mashed Potatoes

So, I know the picture shows you the lamb too, but this post is going to focus on the delicious concoction that is "Garlic Bacon Mashed Potatoes". It is a glorious culinary delight, that combines multiple comfort foods into one (i.e. bacon, garlic, and mashed potatoes). I know that you probably won't be able to use this in your home Xochi, due to the lack of pork products, but you might be able to substitute turkey bacon. There's a good chance it won't be the same though. :oP

There is no real recipe for this, it was just a brain storm. So feel free to experiment wildly with it.

So first, boil some potatoes. I prefer to use yukon gold potatoes, but I you can use any kind you like. My grandma Sarah likes to use red potatoes. I think that yukon gold's come out a little creamier, so that's why I use them. Another thing to consider with the potato preparation is whether or not you'll peel them. I take a half-and-half approach. I'll peel the potatoes, but I'll leave on some skin. Some people like lots of skin on their mashed potatoes and others like absolutely none. It's entirely up to you how much skin you'd like.

While your potatoes are boiling, set a frying pan to medium low heat for the bacon. I used 3 slices of bacon for about a pound of potatoes. The whole thing made roughly 4-5 servings. If you want more bacon, use more, if you feel your pores clogging and your heart constricting as you read that suggestions, then this might not be the post for you.

Fry the bacon in its own delicious juices. After you've done that move the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate to soak up the excess grease.

At this point I disposed of some of my bacon grease, leaving about 2 table spoons in the pan. Put the pan on medium heat and add the minced garlic. Saute until golden brown.

At this point you can finish up the prep on the basic mashed potato recipe. Check the potatoes doneness with a fork. When you can easily puncture the potato with minimal amounts of force it is done. Generally this takes 15-20 minutes of boiling, but it depends on the potatoes, your stove, and a number of other variables.

Once you're certain that the potatoes are done, drain the water out of the pot. Add about 1/3 cup of milk, 2 tablespoons of butter, and the garlic. Then use a fork or a potato masher, or whatever you want and smash some taters! I only recently purchased a potato masher, and I really don't think using a fork is much harder.

Using a large kitchen knife chop your bacon into bits. It should crumble pretty easily. Take the bacon bits and add them to the glorious mashed potato mixture. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Cinnamon Apple Crepes

So after my super long hiatus, I took a cue from you Sarah and decided to try something from Mastering the Art of French cooking- crepes! This morning I made Cinnamon Apple Crepes for breakfast (although by the time I finished it was noon so I suppose this was lunch). The crepes were adapted from MtAoFC- just the basic crepe batter for savory crepes (not dessert). The filling is my own invention, apples cooked in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a bit of rum. This was really really good.

Begin by making your crepe batter. Combine 1/2 cup cold milk, 1/2 cup cold water, 2 eggs, 1/4 tsp salt, 3/4 cup flour, and 2 tbs melted butter in a blender and mix on high for one minute. Cover and put in the fridge while you make your filling. MtAoFC said to let the batter sit for at least 2 hours, but who has time for that?? My batter sat for about 20 minutes and the crepes turned out fine.

Next peel and dice 3 granny smith apples (I only did 2 and couldn’t stuff the crepes to capacity which was very very sad). Actually, 4 apples might be better and leftovers are delicious…

In a saucepan over medium heat, combing 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Stir the mixture till it is thoroughly combined and bubbling gently (2~3 minutes).

Toss in your diced apples and stir to coat them in your syrup. Add 1/4 cup dark rum and stir gently. Allow your mixture to bubble gently for about 5 minutes or until the apples are soft and the syrup no longer smells like alcohol. I converted this recipe from one for bananas foster and you’re supposed to light the rum on fire to make a flambé. I tried that here, but it wouldn’t catch. I think the apples released too much water and it diluted the rum too much to allow for ignition. It’s okay, if you allow the mixture to cook down the flavors become more concentrated and the alcohol all burns off. Seriously tasty stuff. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.

Lightly brush a 7" chef’s skillet (pan with gently sloping sides) with vegetable oil (or use a vegetable oil spray) and set over medium heat.

When the oil is smoking hot, take the pan off the heat and pour in a little less than 1/4 cup of batter. Swirl immediately so the entire bottom of the pan is covered in a thin layer of batter. Place the pan back on the heat and allow the crepe to cook for 60~80 seconds.

As soon as the edges look slightly brown, flip your crepe over. I did this by pinching an edge with thumb and forefinger on both hands and gently flipping it, but you can also use a wide rubber spatula or if you’re really cool you can jerk the pan slightly upward just as you draw it back to you and flip it in the air (thank you Julia Child). Allow the other side to cook for about 20 seconds or until it is slightly browned. The second side doesn’t cook nearly as nicely as the first side because there are all these air pockets that get in the way and you end up with this ugly spotty mess. The second side of the cooked crepe always ends up as the inside of the served crepe, just because the first side cooked is always the prettiest with all it’s lacy brown coloring. See?

Repeat this process till all of the batter is used up (I made 10 crepes). Keep the crepes stacked one on top of another and that will keep them warm and pliable. Fill each crepe with the cooked apples and roll into a crepe shape keeping the end of the crepe tucked underneath. Drizzle with the brown sugar sauce and serve warm. Tony mentioned he would have liked some whipped cream with the crepes. I understand, something creamy would have definitely added to the experience. If these had been for dessert I would have served them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I think I’ll take some ricotta cheese and mix in a little bit of honey and spread that on the bottom of each crepe next time, then put the apples on top, sort of like a cheese blintz. What do you think?

Cinnamon Apple Crepes

Ingredients:

For the crepes:

• 1/2 c cold water
• 1/2 c cold milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 c flour
• 2 tbs melted butter

For the apple filling:

• 1/2 c butter
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 granny smith apples (peeled and diced)
• 1/4 c dark rum

Method:

Begin by making your crepe batter. Combine 1/2 cup cold water, 1/2 cup cold milk, 2 eggs, 1/4 tsp salt, 3/4 cup flour, and 2 tbs melted butter in a blender and mix on high for one minute. Cover and place in the fridge to set while you make your filling.

To make the filling heat 1/2 cup butter in a large skillet and add 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Stir to combine. Add the apples and toss to coat. Add the rum and stir gently. Allow the mixture to bubble slightly until the apples are soft and the syrup no longer smells like alcohol (about 5 minutes). Set aside.

Lightly brush a 7" chef’s skillet with vegetable oil and place over medium heat. When the oil is smoking hot, remove the pan from the heat and pour in slightly less than 1/4 cup crepe batter. Swirl so the batter evenly coats the bottom of the pan. Return the pan to the heat and allow the crepe to cook for 60~80 seconds or until the edges of the crepe turn slightly brown. Flip the crepe and cook the other side for about 20 seconds or until that side is just barely browned. Remove to a plate and repeat the process till all the batter is gone (makes about 10 crepes).

Fill each crepe with the desired amount of apple mixture and roll tucking the seam underneath. Drizzle with the brown sugar mixture and serve warm. A scoop of vanilla ice cream makes a fantastic side. Enjoy!

 

Flickr Tags: Crepes,apples,cinnamon,breakfast,dessert,Xochi

Coq au Vin

After a month long hiatus from the kitchen (thanks a lot grad school), I'm back and I think I might be better than ever. For my return I choose a challenging and time consuming dish that is worth every bit of effort I put forth.

Coq au Vin. Or Cock of the Wine (get your mind out of the gutter, it's talking about chicken). It might at well be called "The Best Freakin' Chicken You'll Ever Eat" or "Kill Me Now I Can Die A Happy Woman". It really is that good. My taster, John, who is usually very stingy with compliments, said this about the dish. "Sarah, you should start a restaurant and just serve this every three hours." It and the lamb shanks are battling it out for the best things I've ever made. John likes this better, but I'm not sure there's a clear winner, except for me for getting to eat this stuff.

I used to be skeptical about French food. Why were they the gourmet touch stone? They had snails, bread, and cheese, but the Italians had pasta, prosciutto and risotto. It seemed like a no brainer to me. Now, I think I know the secret to the France's culinary success. It consists of three things: Butter, Bacon, and Alcohol. You really can't go wrong with that combination. Each French dish I've made thus far has moderate usage of all three, and I really think they were on to something.

Then of course there's the braising and the sauces. Okay okay, I guess I just didn't know enough about French food to fully appreciate it. But now, I've been converted. It may take a ridiculous amount of time to make (3-4 hours), but the end result is so good that it's totally worth it.

The recipes so large (5 lbs of chicken) that I will be eating leftovers of this all week long. I served it over mashed potatoes to make the dish go even further and I cannot comprehend getting tired of it, even if I eat it for every meal for the rest of the week.

(This is how excited I am about this meal!)

Coq au Vin
From Molly Stevens All About Braising

Ingredients:

1/4 pound slab bacon rind removed, cut into 1/2-inch dice
One 4 1/2 to 5 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces (I just got a whole cut up chicken from the market, it's way easier)
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
All purpose flour for dredging (about 1/2 a cup)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion (about 8 oz.), chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 carrot, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons Cognac or other good brandy
One 750-ml bottle dry, fruity red wine
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 cup chicken stock (I used my homemade vegetable stock that I had in the freezer)

The garnish:
10 oz. pearl onions (about 24; frozen pearl onions, not thawed, may be substituted) [I used frozen and they worked great!]
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 pound cremini mushrooms, quartered
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. First for the bacon. Place the diced bacon in a cold, large Dutch oven or other heavy lidded braising pot, set over medium heat, and cook the bacon, stirring often with a slotted spoon, until well browned and crisp on the outside but with some softness inside, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. Set the pot with the rendered bacon fat aside off the heat.

2. Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

3. Rinse the chicken pieces with cool water and pat dry with paper towels. Season on all sides with salt and pepper. Spread the flour in a wide shallow dish, and dredge half the chicken pieces one at a time, pacing each one in the flour, turning to coat both sides, and then lifting and patting lightly to shake off any excess [I dredged all the pieces at once to save time and counter space, just note that you won't be able to brown them all in the same batch].

4. Add 1 tablespoon butter to the rendered bacon fat in the pot and place over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, ease in the dredged pieces of chicken, skin side down, without crowding.


Sear on both sides, turning once with tongs [I had no tongs so I used two forks and probably singed off some arm hair... must buy tongs], until a deep golden brown crust forms, 7 to 10 minutes total.


Transfer the chicken to a large platter; dredge the remaining pieces [I did this step earlier], discard the flour. Add another tablespoon butter to the pot, sear the remaining chicken. The second batch may brown faster, lower the heat if it begins to burn at all. Transfer the chicken to the platter, pour off the fat from the pot without discarding the tasty browned bits. Return the pot to medium heat.

5. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and melt it over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot, and toss to coat the vegetables in the butter.


Saute, stirring once or twice, until the vegetables are beginning to soften and are flecked with brown, about five minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to smear the paste through the vegetables. Add the Cognac [I used a shot glass and had to use slightly more than 2 tablespoons in order to deglaze the pot] and bring to a boil to deglaze, scraping the pot with a wooden spoon to dislodge the crust [the crust is what makes the whole thing so glorious]. Simmer, stirring a few times, until the liquid is almost all gone. Raise the heat to high, add the red wine, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, and parsley, and bring to a boil.


Lower the heat to medium-high and simmer rapidly until the wine reduces by about half, about 15 minutes. Stir in the reserved bacon and the stock and bring to a boil. Using a ladle, scoop out 1/2 cup of braising liquid and set aside for later cooking the pearl onions.

6. Add the chicken pieces to the pot in this order: place the legs, thighs, and wings in the pot first, then put the breast pieces on top of them, skin side down. (Keeping the breast pieces on top protects them from overcooking and drying out.) Pour in any juices that collected as the chicken sat and bring to a simmer [I forgot to add the chicken juice and didn't notice a difference, but it would be a good point to remember the more juiciness the better].


Cover the chicken with parchment paper, pressing down so that the paper nearly touches the chicken and extends over the sides of the pot by about an inch [I also forgot to get parchment paper and thus skipped this step as well. The chicken was definitely not dry at the end of this so I wonder what purpose the parchment paper serves.]. Cover with the lid and place on a rack in the lower third of the oven to braise. After 15 minutes, turn the breast pieces over with tongs [or forks]. At the same time, check that the liquid is simmering quietly. If not, lower the oven temp by 10 or 15 degrees. Continue braising gently for another 45 to 60 minutes, or until the breasts and dark meat are fork tender.

7. Meanwhile, cook the garnish. [I used frozen pearl onions for this, so I'm skipping her step for boiling and peeling fresh ones.] Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute, stirring and shaking, until tinged with brown, 3 to 4 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, add the reserved 1/2 cup of braising liquid, cover and simmer, shaking the pan frequently, until the onions are tender when pierced (3 to 4 minutes, if using frozen; 12 if not). Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium high, and boil to reduce the liquid to a glaze.

Transfer the onions and liquid to a small bowl, scraping the pan with a rubber spatula [I had to remind myself that the pan was hot to keep from licking the glaze off of it. So good!]. Return the pan to a medium-high heat and add the remaining 1.5 tablespoons of butter. When the butter stops foaming, add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and saute briskly. The mushrooms may release a lot of liquid at first. Continue to saute, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms develop an attractive chestnut brown sear, about 10 minutes. Remove them from the heat and return the onions and liquid to the skillet. Set aside.

8. Take the chicken out of the oven. It looks and smells like heaven. Try to refrain from dipping your head into the pot, or attempting to make love to the chicken at this point [that's from me, not Molly].

Remove the chicken pieces to a platter and cover the chicken to keep it warm. Let the braising liquid settle and then skim off any fat from the top. Place the pot over high heat and bring the juices to a boil. Reduce the juices until thickened to the consistency of a vinaigrette, about 10 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Lower the heat, add the onion mushroom garnish, heat through, about more 4 minutes.

Spoon the sauce over the chicken pieces, sprinkle with the chopped parsley, and serve.


Prepare to have a foodgasm. Try to keep your "O" noises to a minimum so the neighbors don't get concerned.