New Toy, New Troubles, New TASTY

We bought a grill, a Weber Spirt gas grill that is my new favorite cooking tool.  So far we have made wings (heavenly, but still perfecting our spice rub), burgers (standard issue), chicken (meh, should have used a better recipe) and pizza.  Mmmm. Pizza.  The dough was delicious beyond delicious, but I am yet a novice.  I went into pizza making with only the vaguest of recipes and the most cursory of looks on the internet.

Here is what I learned:

• Brush your dough with olive oil, it helps with the sticking.
• Having a grill that tells you how hot it is, is magnificently convenient and helpful.
• Wet toppings = sad, so keep them dry so they don't interfere with the crust's crisping.
• Keep your toppings warm.  Ours got a bit cold.  I think next time I'll put them on the raised rack in foil while we do the crust so they go on nice and hot.
• Cheese next to the crust, it's the best way to melt it.
• Smaller is better, because it's easier to remove
• Thin crust is a nasty nasty thing to try to lay on the grill properly.  I will be rolling out my dough thicker next time.
• Cooking on the grill is one billion times faster than doing it in the oven (actually, no, that is a gross exaggeration, but the oven takes 6-7 minutes for the crust and then another 5ish minutes for the toppings.  I think we went from dough on to topped pizza and off the grill in under five minutes.

Here is what I need to know:

• How do you transfer your dough to the grill? It seems like it should be easy, but alas, it was terribly hard and resulted in some tears and much swearing.  

I promise to make many more pizzas this summer and let you know when I have hit level win.

If you have mastered the art of pizza-on-grill please, please, please share your tricks, tips and techniques in the comments.  

Yet Another Grilled Cheese

It is entirely possible that I have never met a grilled cheese I didn't like.  But this grilled cheese is one that I didn't eat.  Not because I had anything against it, mind you, simply because I made myself a different one.  Mine was tasty, true, but since my mother-in-law proclaimed this to be the best grilled cheese she'd ever eaten, I figured I might as well share.  Now, my mother-in-law may have been exaggerating slightly as she is often overly generous with her praise of my cooking (not a bad trait at all, I must say) but my husband did confirm that it was a damn good sandwich.

GRILLED CHEESE WITH CHEDDAR, HORSERADISH, ONIONS AND APPLES

INGREDIENTS:
2 slices of bread per person - I used multigrain, it's all I had, but I think a nice deli rye would be ideal
3 slices of bacon per person, cooked up to a crispy goodness
onions, carmelized by cooking on low heat until golden, silky and sweet
red horseradish (seriously, my husband WILL NOT with the white stuff)
grated cheddar cheese - a nice sharp cheddar, and a decent amount per person, no skimping
a tart apple (maybe half an apple per person, how much do you like apples?) like a Northern Spy or Granny Smith, sliced and sauteed until soft and juicy but not mush
Butter

ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS:
Begin with the bread.  Smear one side with a thin but even layer of horseradish.  Get it all the way to the edges (doing things to the edges is key with a good grilled cheese).  Mix together your onions and apples and then carefully layer them on top of the horseradish.  Top it with half of your grated cheddar cheese.  Then apply the slices of bacon.  Top with another layer of cheddar.  Finally add the top slice of bread.

DIRECTIONS:
Heat up a pan to medium high (a cast iron would be lovely).  Melt a healthy pat of butter in the pan.   Plop the sandwich in the pan.  Cook until the cheese starts to melt and the bread is toasty.  Using a spatula, carefully slide from the pan.  Melt another healthy pat of putter in the pan.  Carefully flip the raw side of the sandwich so it's touching the pan.  Cook until the cheese is completely melty and the sandwich is golden on the other side as well.  Cut.  Munch.  Mmmmm.

Turnips are Terrific?

Do you eat turnips? I mean ever.  Have you ever tasted a turnip?  There is a serious anti-turnip bias in this world. This winter, I ended up with one. One turnip.  Not one anti-turnip bias.  I don't know why.  Maybe it was cheap.  Maybe it was for the baby.  Maybe my mom's neighbor got it in his CSA and gave it to her and then she gave it to me thinking I would eat it.  That seems the most likely.  So what's a girl to do?  I hate waste, so I cooked the thing. Turns out, turnips are quite tasty and subsequently I went and purchased more turnips with the intention of eating them.  My only problem is that literally every single time I make turnips, someone will start whining about it before they have even taken a bit. That someone is never the baby, who scarfs the things down without complaint.  It is usually a grown person who should know that I would not repeatedly serve something that tastes bad and should also be mature enough to not whine.  So just in case you've got a few lurking at the bottom of your vegetable drawer, waiting to be used up, here's how to make turnips taste terrific.*+

*no promises. If you think beets taste like dirt, I have no clue what you'll think of turnips.  I find turnips to be somewhere between a potato, a radish and an apple, three foods that do not initially seem to have much in common.  If cooked well, they can be starchy and slightly sweet.

+I said taste terrific, not smell.  Turnips smell…like turnips.  It is not the best food smell I know, so let's leave it at that.

TURNIPS:
INGREDIENTS:
3 C Turnips
3-5 T butter
1/4 C water + 1 t Better than Bullion (Chicken Flavor)
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Cut your turnips up nice and small, I think I did a 1/4" dice (or would have if my dicing were accurate like that).  Melt your butter over medium low heat.  Add the cut up turnips.  Let them sit for about 5 minutes, they should develop some color.  Then turn them and let them cook for another 5 minutes (more color!).  Finally, add your liquid.  I bet you could use a quarter cup of chicken stock, but I think the water + bullion is more concentrated in flavor?  Anyway.  Let the turnips cook another 5-10 minutes.  You don't want them to be mushy, but they shouldn't be hard.  Add salt and pepper at the end, because your stock/bullion/whathaveyou may be saltier than you think!

A Taste of Spring

As the calendar turns from April to May, I can only hope the torrential rains go the way of the proverbial showers and bring plenty of beautiful flowers.  I can't quite stomach any more rains or the hearty dinners I crave when the weather is nasty.  I want bright, sharp, crisp spring tastes!  But I never would have expected to love this particular spring salad.  It has zucchini in it and I think I've made it abundantly clear how I feel about zucchini.  But my Uncle John was visiting and he seems to have made it a personal quest to get me to love the few vegetables I despise, and so he turned out this perfect spring salad.  As I helped myself to another serving, he modestly asked if I was eating it just to be polite.  It was my fourth serving.  I do not do fourths just to be polite.  If your palate is craving spring as much as you're craving the sunshine, definitely try this.  And have fourths, if you want. I won't judge.

INGREDIENTS:
1 bunch asparagus
1 zucchini
1 lemon
1/4 C olive oil
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Wash your produce and locate a large serving platter.  Cut off your asparagus below the bottom knuckle, you don't want that overly woody tough bottom bit.  Then using a peeler, slowly, carefully, create long fettucini like slices of your asparagus.  Work top, then bottom and you'll end up with a long slightly thicker bit in the middle, but that's okay, once it's marinated it will be as tender as your other bits.  Then using a mandolin (or your knife if you're skilled like that), julienne your zucchini. My uncle used the outer sections, leaving a core of about a quarter inch cube.  Arrange the zucchini and asparagus on your platter, tossed gently and allowed to twist and turn over itself.  Zest and juice one lemon.  Mix the lemon juice with 1/4 C of olive oil and pour all over your zucchini and asparagus salad.  Then sprinkle the zest over the top.  Allow it to marinate a bit before eating if you can.  I think ours sat for about an hour, but I'm sure it would be delicious even with a shorter wait time.

Will a Menu Do?

This.  This is where I have been.  This is what keeps me from typing up real recipes and often times, even cooking things that would be worthy of the blog at all.

But despite this sweet distraction, I managed to host my parents and grandmother for Easter. No new recipes of my own device, but plenty, plenty of cooking.  I could not have gotten through the cooking without my mother.  In fact, I was so overwhelmed that one night I dreamt that I overslept and she made all the waffles.  But the food was all so delicious, that even though I did not once raise my camera above the table, I still need to share it with you.

Saturday Lunch

Greek Pasta Salad - Ideal because I mixed it up during naptime, sent Ryan out in search of crusty bread to serve with it, and then was able to put it on the table within minutes of my guests arriving.  I used Barilla Gluten-Free pasta so my dad would be able to enjoy it, and it worked perfectly.

Saturday Dinner

Mark Bittman's Spicy Shrimp - Takes no time at all.  No grill this time, so we did it in the oven.  Juicy delicious shrimp, requiring the minimum effort.

Fried Polenta - A hybrid of Ina Garten's original recipe for the rosemary, parm and red pepper flakes, and my own adaptation which uses less cream and butter.  This is gluten-free as long as you dust your triangles of polenta in cornstarch, not flour.  Oh, and did I mention it's easiest to pour the polenta into a pie plate and cut wedges rather than using a square pan?  Because it is.

Baked Artichokes - These are delicious.  Do not be skeptical just because it's a Rachel Ray recipe.  Use the anchovies.  You will not be disappointed.  Also, it looks pretty impressive, but is really easy to make.

Easter Sunday Brunch

Deviled Eggs were a must.

Buttermilk Waffles - I obviously did not make them with bananas, because bananas are gross.  But I did make them with whipped cream and strawberries, which was delicious. It was my first time using the waffle iron, so I'm not sure I did a great job with the whole waffle thing, but they are really great and crisp leftover.  I've got a stack of them in my freezer.

Easter Dinner

Duck Breast  - I cannot miss with this recipe.  It is always spot on.

Pommes Anna - except my mother really did make them, so they were as nice as my mother's.

Roast Asparagus - no recipe, just a bunch of beautiful spring asparagus (pick the skinny ones), laid out on a pan, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and roasted at 425 for 10 minutes.  Perfection.

Easter Dessert

Lemon Ricotta Cake  - I did not do the layer of lemon curd, because of the time and effort required.

I did however, make it gluten-free with some help from the amazing and wonderful Annalise Roberts, who helped me with the adaptions.

What you need to make it gluten-free:
Her gluten-free flour mix, which you can purchase ready made from Amazon: Authentic Foods GF Classical Blend - 3lb

So make the recipe with the following adjustments:
Substitute her flour blend for the regular flour, 1 to 1 substitution.
Add 1/2 t of xanthan gum
Reduce the butter to 10 T
Reduce the sugar to 1 1/4 C
Increase vanilla to 2 t (oh come on, you were going to do that anyway).

The result is delicious.  I swear no one would know that you're serving gluten-free cake.
And if you like it?  Definitely buy her book: Gluten-Free Baking Classics because it's full of gluten-free recipes that actually work.

Party Pizzas

It's been really hard for me to come back here.  I haven't wanted anything else to replace Dexter's picture at the top of the screen.  And yet, I've also avoided even looking at the home page, because seeing him brings me too much pain.  But here I am, and I come bearing pizza.  It's the not the first time I've done fancy pizza for Oscar night and with how delicious these turned out, I'm willing to bet it won't be the last.

The plan had been to make pizza topped with smoked turkey from the delicious looking turkey legs they have at Whole Foods, but Whole Foods was unfortunately without turkey and I was left wandering aimlessly.  Which is when a yogurt maker (I am not even kidding you) who was giving out samples asked what he could do for me.  I told him I really didn't need yogurt, I needed smoked turkey legs because now I had not one clue what to do about dinner.  

Luckily, he did.  Claiming to have been a chef in his pre-yogurt making days, he recommended dried plums (*cough* prunes *cough*) to complement my likely cheese choice of gruyere.  And then while wandering through the dried fruit section I scooped up some dried mission figs as well.  

And behold.  Two amazing pizzas, both of which I would gladly eat again.

Unfortunately my recipes are a bit sketchy.  I've got to ease back into this thing, you know?

FIG PIZZA WITH DUCK BACON, RICOTTA AND SPINACH

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 recipe dough

1 C mozzarella

4-5 oz ricotta cheese

3-4 slices duck bacon, chopped into bits and sautéed until crisp

8-10 small figs (maybe about a cups worth?) sliced thin

fresh baby spinach

balsamic vinegar and olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Bake the dough for 5-7 minutes at 450 or until it starts to harden.  Top with the cup of mozzarella, the duck bacon bits, the figs and spoonfuls of the fresh ricotta.  Rinse and dry the baby spinach, tear off any overly long stems and quickly toss the spinach in a bit of balsamic and olive oil, just enough to barely dress it.  Lay the spinach over the pizza and then pop it back into the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melty.  

THREE CHEESE PIZZA WITH DRIED PLUMS AND CARAMELIZED ONIONS

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 recipe dough

1/2 C mozzarella
1/2 C comte
1/4 C fontina (although play fast and loose with the cheese amounts, really)
1/2 an onion, sliced very thin, cooked in a bit of olive oil over low heat until soft and golden
5-6 dried plums, sliced

DIRECTIONS:
Bake the dough at 450 for 5-7 minutes or until it starts to harden.  Top with the cheese, sprinkle over the caramelized onions and place on the dried plums.  Pop back in the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melty and delicious.

Goodnight Sweetheart

I'm sorry I haven't been here.  My heart just hasn't been in it.  My sweetheart, my beloved Dexter, had to be put to sleep right after Christmas.  I sat up with him the night before we said goodbye and I wrote him this:

Dear Dexter,

I miss you already.  I miss the way you learned to lick my ears because I would turn my face away when you tried to cover it with kisses.  I miss how you demanded tickles, pawing my arm relentlessly if I dared to stop.  I loved how you wanted attention and cuddling, even sticking your nose right over the top of a book and leaving it there or smacking it until I put it down, the hell if I was trying to read.  At night when I watched TV I would lay on my side and you would come curl up in that empty space.  I hate having that space empty.  I chose you because I wanted a dog that would love me back.  Thank you for loving me.  For letting me carry you in my arms like a baby, with your hindpaws on each side of my hip and front paws around my neck.  

I wish I could see you again as a puppy, bouncing up and down so high that you once jumped straight in through the open driver's side window of a car shocking my friend who had double parked.   I wish I could again find you snuggled into a special hiding place, like the laundry basket or the second shelf of my closet.  

I will never see a blizzard without wishing you were there to bound into and over the snowdrifts, shoving your muzzle deep and coming up with a little snow crusted beard.  I will not hear a middle of the night thunderstorm without thinking I should bring you into the bedroom so you won't be scared and waiting while you went back to bring your stuffed elephant, Lovey, in with us too.  

I will NOT miss your houdini like escape skills, breaking out of a kitchen that was gated, then a kitchen that was gated and secured with a bungee cord.  I will NOT miss your Usain Bolt level speed if ever you managed to escape, leading me on a not so merry chase through city streets needing to be lured back by a stranger's kindness and her chicken sandwich.  

In the morning I will let you nibble a few bits of scone, since you prized baked goods above all other foods.  And then I will have to say goodbye.  It's going to hurt me a lot more than it will hurt you, because slowly you have stopped doing all these things that made you your very own self.  And I know I need to let you go.  But I wanted you for years before I had you and I will want you still for years after you have gone.

Who is going to lick away my tears now bear?

I loved this little dog so very very much and miss him every day.  Here he is in all of his fuzzy glory.

Bird's Nest Cookies

In the midst of all the chaos, there is still Christmas.  Maybe it's having a child of my own, maybe it's just that I've always been violently attached to traditions, but this year, I have no tolerance for change.  A few years ago, we overthrew the family bird's nest cookie recipe in favor of Ina Garten's Jam Thumbprints, which are delicious, rich, buttery and shortbready.  But this year, with my mother making a gluten-free version for my dad, I wanted nothing more than the original.  Of course, no one HAD the original. My mother had tossed the original recipe deeming it too fussy to deal with.  She claimed her brother might have a copy, but nope.  And the whole time I couldn't get the recipe out of my head.  I could picture it so clearly.  Why could I picture it so clearly?  Maybe because I had it all along.  Safely written in the cookbook my mom gave me full of family recipes, was our bird's nest cookie recipe.  So with my little one safely in my mother-in-law's arms, I whipped up a batch.  They are every bit as good as I remember.  They are also, a bit fussy in parts, but I'll try to help you through that.

BIRD'S NEST COOKIES

Makes ~ 3 dozen

recipe courtesy of someone my mother's family once knew (a  little help on this mom?)

INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks of softened unsalted butter (this is 1 C)

1 C brown sugar, lightly packed

2 T vanilla extract

1/2 t almond extract

2 eggs (reserve the white of one, so you need 1 whole egg + 1 yolk for the cookie, 1 white for rolling)

2 C flour

1/2 t baking powder

2 C chopped nuts (I used a mix of walnuts and pecans)

assorted jams, jellies and marmalades

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Cream together your butter and sugar. This was a bit harder than usual.  Maybe brown sugar is softer than white and can't break up the butter as well?  So maybe soften the butter properly (I am notoriously lazy and rarely soften the butter enough).  You don't want it to be liquid, but it should be soft to the touch.  Then add your eggs, mixing well after each. Next add the extracts and quickly mix again.  Finally, mix together your flour and baking powder and slowly add to the wet ingredients.

I used a mini-prep to chop my nuts.  They should be small so they stick, kind of like this:

Prepare to roll the cookies.  You'll need a small plate covered with nuts, a bowl with the egg white and an ungreased cookie sheet.  

First, create a small ball with the dough.  If you make them too small, it's hard to make an indentation for the jam. If you make them too big, well, you don't get as many, and it's a lot harder to fit in your mouth.  I think about 3/4" is the best which is a bit smaller than I usually make cookie balls.  

Next, dip the ball in the egg white.  Then roll it in nuts and place on the cookie sheet.

You may not need the full two cups of nuts and if you'd like to save nuts, I'd say only pour some on the plate and replenish periodically.  You can't save what's left on the plate after you've rolled because of the egg white.  Ew.

The balls should be 2" apart on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. This baking thing is the other fussy part.  If you over bake it's extremely hard to make an indentation.  If you under bake, well, you have gross raw cookies.  So watch them carefully.  I had some take longer than 12, but most came in at 12 minutes.  My mom's recipe said 10.  In order to check for doneness, I wanted them to sort of slide off their spot when poked, have a light golden underside if checked.  When you pull them out, make a small indentation in each and allow to cool on a cooling rack.  You can make your indentation with your thumb (ow! hot!) or with the back of a teaspoon measure (which isn't great because it's more likely to make the edges of the cookie split apart).  Your call which you use.

When the cookies are cool, place a small amount (about a teaspoon) of jam into the indentation. I used blueberry, raspberry and apricot for these, but you can use whatever you like!

Hungry Hippo Gift Guide 2013

Happy Holidays! Oh, the hell with it.  Merry Christmas!  If you're Hanukkah shopping right now, you are more than a day late and a dollar short, so lets move it along.

Want to shop for your favorite kitchen loving pals?  Take a gander at what I've picked out for you this year!

1. Measuring Cubs - $36 at Anthropologie
If I weren't already in possession of the world cutest hedgehog measuring cups I would want these, badly.  Do you see the fish in his belly?  Adorable!!

2. Fridge Phrases - $15

Perhaps your favorite chef also has a fridge.  One that things stick to (this is getting increasingly hard to find, my fridge is wood paneled, bizarrely enough).  Maybe that friend also lives on the east coast and needs a regionally specific set of fridge magnets.  Clearly, I would choose the Boston edition myself.

3. Maptote $17

You know your foodie friends are shopping for local organically grown produce at the farmer's market and would love a made in the USA cloth bag to use to carry their groceries home.  I have Seattle and Cape Cod.  I need to add Paris, Boston and Philadelphia to my collection.  Available in a range of places and styles.

4. Gluten-Free Baking Classics $13.09

We're getting to the point where just about everyone knows someone who is gluten-free.  My father, who knows good food better than just about anyone I know, heartily endorses this cookbook as the best source of gluten-free baked goods.  I've sampled them and let me tell you, they're not just good for something that's gluten-free, they're actually delicious.  

5. T-fal One Egg Wonder Pan $8.98

I think my nana is on a one woman mission to convince the world that this is the best pan ever.  If you live alone, or enjoying eating one egg, it really might be.  The egg turns out the perfect shape (really! no squiggly edges!). Plus the pan is so small and easy to wash! 

                                                             

6. All-Clad Belgian Waffle Maker ~ $179

Look, I don't know if this is the best waffle maker on the market.  All I know is that I need a waffle maker.  I have always wanted a waffle maker.  I have never had space for a waffle maker.  Currently, I have space for a waffle maker.  Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you threw in someone to operate the waffle maker.  That would be truly exceptional. 

NB: Although I know next to nothing about waffles I do know that they should be square. Not round.  

7. Pair of Terrier Mugs $16 each

It's only too bad these are fox terriers not welshies.  I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere about terriers and caffeine delivery devices but I am entirely too exhausted to work it out for you.  

8. Spaghetti Measurer $8.95

I have no clue whether or not this works, all I know is that I never have the foggiest notion how much spaghetti to make.  

9. Blossom Trivet 2 for $19.50

Look, I haven't a clue how it does all those other things it says it can, but it's still pretty cool for a trivet. Plus, it seems like it would be fun to play with.  Functional + toy = win!

10. Recipe Divider Magnet $11.99 

My math skills are decent, but cooking (particularly baking) isn't exactly a place to be taking chance.  And fractional division is far from my mathematical strong point.  So why not make life easier with a recipe divider magnet (Who cares if it's magnetic? IT DOES MATH).  I know my husband* would love to no longer hear "Babe? What's a third of three quarters?"echoing from the kitchen in frenzied tones.

*this is in no way intended to read as "girls are dumb at math and need to ask boys for help".  My husband is a human calculator freak.  It's just so much faster to ask him.  At your house, it's entirely possible that the lady of the house is the one with the math skillz.  The only relevant fact is whether the person who cooks (regardless of gender) is also the person in possession of the ability to quickly and accurately divide fractions.  If not, helloooo recipe divider!

What's on your kitchen wish list?  Let me know in the comments!  I think I need #3 (in any one of the cities named), #6 (or similar, WAFFLES!!! WAFFFFFFFFFLESSSSSSS!) and #7.

Interested in last year's list?  Many items are still available!

Dooooo It

This is not a recipe, this is a public service announcement.  In the mad dash to use up the Thanksgiving leftovers  I found my self staring into a container of leftover stuffing.  We're partial to the cornbread/sausage variety around here, and my mother had made a delicious batch of it for us.  But days after Thanksgiving (or more accurately, after days of Thanksgiving leftovers) even my favorite treat was looking hard to swallow.

So I did what any self-respecting desperate person would do.

I added an egg - I had maybe a cup to a cup and a half of stuffing left.
I rolled it into balls.
I gently rolled those balls in flour (you could use cornstarch).
And I dropped them into hot oil.

Mine are a bit on the, erm, dark side shall we say?  That's what comes of not using a thermometer for your oil and generally being distracted while cooking.  Not recommended.

If you use a thermometer, keep your oil at about 350 and cook your balls for only a minute or two per side.

The result was so good.  Like a sausage-y hush puppy.  Like a ball of corn dog.*

Stuffing wins.

*what does cornbread have to do with dogs?  No really.  I'm asking.

PS - You all know by now that the salad greens are purely an effort to pacify my husband.  I just used lettuce, apple, carrot, pecans and a dressing of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and salt and pepper.  It did nothing to detract from the fried stuffingy goodness.