Food Archives - Page 38 of 56

Will Blog for Food (Easy Homemade Cookie Cookbook)

By threejamigos | November 20, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

I received an e-mail from a publisher a couple of weeks ago. They had come across my blog and wanted to know if I would like to review a book they had coming out. Me? I was flattered (my aw-shucks, you really like me moment). Wait, this isn’t some ploy to get me to buy another book is it? So I asked “Do I have to send the book back? I hate mailing stuff. I GET TO KEEP IT?! Sure I’ll do it!” The last thing I needed was another baking book as I am the owner of way too many cookbooks. As space on my shelf grows tight I have had to be selective about which books I get and keep. BUT THIS WAS FREE. So what the heck! When I did receive my copy of Miranda Couse’s Easy Homemade Cookie Cookbook I felt like I was getting an extra birthday gift. I flipped through the book for an initial look just to size it up. I noted the extensive section on essentials, ingredients, and how-tos. Great for beginners. The cookies are organized by types such as drops, classics, brownies and bars, slice and bake and holiday treats. There are tips and variations interspersed throughout the book, very informative. Each page is user-friendly with the ingredients and quantities listed on the left and instructions on the right. Every recipe is preceded by a highlighted box with prep time, baking time, how many cookies and shelf life, love that. There are photos every couple of pages but not one for each cookie. Bummers. But the photos included are well-staged and close-up, you know exactly what the cookie should look like.

Now to the serious stuff. I tried two recipes, the Blueberry Lemon Shortbread and Coffee Cheesecake Swirled Brownie. Both were straightforward and easy to make, especially the shortbread. The cookie is buttery, very lemony which really creates a nice contrast with the blueberries. Dried blueberries are used which I think intensifies the flavor. Really delicious cookie. The brownies were a bit more effort with the 2 batters but worth it. They are decadent, gooey and dense. The sweetness is tempered by the hit of espresso powder. Next time I might add chocolate chips to the brownie batter just to amp up chocolate. Double yums.

Despite having a zillion cookie books, I am making room on my shelf for this one. It is easy, straightforward, well organized and more importantly, the recipes work. I know Jamie is going to love it. Holiday baking here we come.

This would be the perfect stocking stuffer for novice bakers and cookie lovers!

Cookiefinity-Triple Play (Triple Oatmeal Cookies from BraveTart)

By threejamigos | November 18, 2017 | Comments 2 comments

This month’s Food52 Baking Book Club features Stella Park’s BraveTart. You may remember I previously blogged about her delicious Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies and the debacle of using the printed version in People magazine. BIG MISTAKE. About a month ago, Omnivore Books hosted Ms.Parks, being a cookbook junkie, I jumped in my car and headed to the City to attend. Got my very own SIGNED copy, uh-huh, uh-huh..doing the happy dance.

Talented dessert chef, blogger, and author of Marbled, Swirled and Layered, Irvin Lin was on hand to moderate the conversation. Which just proves there is a conspiracy going on as I was FORCED to buy not just one new cookbook but two. Now I have to find shelf-room for his book too. Aiyah!

After her talk, I waited patiently while one woman monopolized the Q&A session (sheesh-some people), they finally picked me and I blurted out “I’m the one who tweeted about processing the honey roasted nuts” and recounted the horrible editing job of her recipe in People magazine. I think of it as a cautionary public service tale for everyone.

And with her great southern drawl (she is from Kentucky) she said: “Oh I know, I hate when they edit recipes and get it wrong!”

I was vindicated.

The book is a reflection of her, warm, friendly and gracious. BraveTart is a love tome to iconic American treats. The book works due to her attention to detail and thoroughness. She has reworked recipes such as Oreos and Nutter Butters and transformed them into delicious homey treats while retaining the essence of the original dessert that you remember so well from childhood. With the first bite of her Triple Oatmeal Cookie, I was immediately transported back to my 12-year-old self, reaching into the familiar pink-purple bag of Mother’s Oatmeal Cookies.

Her Triple Oatmeal Cookies are delicious, chewy, toothy cookies. The cookies contain old-fashioned oatmeal, steel cut oats and oat flour, the triple whammy of Oatsville. Cranberries and pecans are added and provide sweetness and crunch, a scrumptious cookie. Feel free to substitute different dried fruit. Interestingly enough Stella posted that raisins will cause or allow the cookies to spread more than cranberries so keep that in mind. Dried cherries or diced apricots would be amazing also. Chocolate chips would, of course, work well also.

I made the dough and followed the instructions to bake the cookies on a foil-lined sheet. To my surprise, the cookie spread was more than expected. The first batch was thin, almost like lace cookies. Channeling America’s Test Kitchen I baked subsequent batches on parchment and then on a Silpat. Here are the results, everyone knows a picture is worth a thousand words.

So, the cookies on the left were baked on Silpat, center- parchment, right-foil. An Ah-ha moment. Like the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, “This cookie (right) is too thin, this one (left) is too thick, the center cookie is JUST RIGHT!” Note to self, bake these cookies on parchment.

In the end, they were all good, chewy, buttery, crispy edges and full of oat goodness. They were gobbled up.

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Cookiefinity-Triple Play (Triple Oatmeal Cookies from BraveTart)

Ingredients

1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (not too soft)
⅔ cup 5 ounces packed light brown sugar
½ cup 3 ½ ounces granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt a bit less if you use Morton’s kosher salt, half the amount if it’s regular table salt plus additional salt (if you wish) for sprinkling
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
⅔ cup 3 ounces all-purpose flour
¾ cup 2 ½ ounces oat flour (alternatively, grind old-fashioned rolled oats in a blender)
1 ⅔ cups 6 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
¼ cup 1 ½ ounces steel-cut oats
1 ¼ cups 5 ounces toasted pecan pieces
1 cup 6 ounces dried cranberries or cherries, if you use raisins the cookies will spread a bit more

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat until combined. Add egg and continue beating until light and creamy.
Whisk together flour, oat flour and both oatmeal types. Stir in pecans and cranberries. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just combined. Batter will be stiff.
Arrange portions of dough (about 1 ounce or 2 tablespoons each) onto lined baking sheets. Flatten into disks and optionally sprinkle each with a bit of kosher salt.
Bake in preheated oven 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown on edges but still pale in the middle.
Let cool on baking sheet a few minutes and then move to a cooling rack.

Pictures from a cookbook groupie! When will I learn to hold my phone higher?

Lemon Cookie Very Pretty & The Cookie Is So Sweet (Blueberry-Lemon Shortbread)

By threejamigos | November 10, 2017 | Comments 2 comments

Blueberry-Lemon Shortbread from Miranda Couse’s Easy Homemade Cookie Cookbook is a winner. These cookies remind me of my favorite scones which have dried blueberries and lemon zest in them. As soon as I spied the recipe I knew I had to try it. The cookies are made with powdered sugar which helps to create a tender cookie. A combination of lemon juice and lemon zest give the cookies their tart, lemony flavor. Want less pucker? Substitute Meyer lemon or a combination of lemon and orange juice in the cookie. The use of dried blueberries in these delicious morsels intensifies the berry flavor and provides a foil to the lemon. Trader Joe’s carries wild dried blueberries that work perfectly.

The dough is rolled out to approximately 3/8-1/2 inch thickness. I’m sure the dough if chilled, would be firm enough to shape into a log for slice and bake cookies. As I sat munching on one the thought occurred to me that dried cranberries and orange would also be delicious. Can’t wait to make my next batch. If you try a different flavor combination, let me know!

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Lemon Blueberry Shortbread from Easy Homemade Cookie Cookbook

Delicious citrus-berry, buttery cookie!

Course cookies

Cuisine American

Keyword blueberry, cookies, lemon, Lemon blueberry shortbread, Shortbread

Ingredients

MAKES ABOUT 12 COOKIES
Prep: 15 minutes Chill: 30 minutes
Bake: 14 to 15 minutes
Shelf Life: 4 to 5 days
½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
7 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon table salt
¼ cup chopped dried blueberries Feel free to substitute other dried fruit, great combo would be orange and dried cranberries, use your imagination, like lime and strawberry

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed or a wooden spoon, beat together the butter and both sugars until light and creamy. This will take about 3 minutes if using an electric mixer or 5 to 6 minutes if creaming by hand. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and beat to combine. Add the flour and salt, and beat on low speed or by hand until the dough comes together about 1 minute. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the blueberries until incorporated.
Place the dough between two sheets of wax paper or parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to an even ½-inch thickness. Wrap the dough in the paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Rechill if they seem soft.
Bake 14-15 minutes until edges are golden brown. Start checking at 12 minutes!
Let the cookies rest on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Like many shortbread, flavors will develop and the cookie will be even better the next day!

A Tale of Two Cookbooks (Coffee Cheesecake Swirled Brownies)

By threejamigos | November 10, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

For those familiar with Food52 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks, I received two cookbooks this past week that made me feel like one of the judges for the tourney. In a nutshell, The Piglet is like March Madness, sixteen cookbooks go head to head, winner goes on, loser goes home. Judges are selected by Food52 staff and they are not just from the culinary world, but artists, writers, journalists (no pharmacists yet hint, hint) who read and cook from each book and pick their favorite. Pairings are eclectic and at times exasperating (Robicelli’s Cupcakes vs.The Persian Table, go figure). But that’s what makes it interesting and so much fun.

Which brings me back to the two cookbooks I received, Easy Homemade Cookie Cookbook and Kristen Kish Cooking. One homey, approachable, familiar and the other dazzling, appealing, intimidating-polar opposites.

I’ll start with the familiar. Miranda Couse’s Easy Homemade Cookie Cookbook (not the catchiest title), is a compendium of standard and favorite cookie recipes. I know, do I need another cookie book? Nope. But this one does deserve a spot on my bookshelf and yours. The recipes are well organized, straightforward, and easy to follow. Helpful tips and recipe tweaks are interspersed throughout the book and each recipe starts with a blurb on how many cookies it makes, baking temperature and time and their shelf life. There are photos but not for every recipe which would have been nice. The book is divided into types of cookies including drop cookies, bars and brownies, and sandwich cookies to name a few. I have tried two recipes so far and both have passed the taste test. The first cookie that caught my eye was a Blueberry-Lemon Shortbread which is so good, it deserves its own post. The second recipe I tried, though brownies are not my thing, was the Coffee Cheesecake Swirled Brownies. Chocolatey and decadent, the cocoa brownie layer provided a dense, gooey base for the luscious coffee spiked cream cheese top. I made new friends when I showed up to work with these bad boys.

Pour dollop and swirl, the name of the game.

As I flipped through the book a thought kept running through my mind, Jamie would love this book and I plan to get her a copy of her own.

A nod to Kristen Kish’s cookbook which I will save for a weekend to read, drool over and tackle. Stay tuned.

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Coffee Cheesecake Swirled Brownies

Ingredients

MAKES 9 BROWNIES
Prep: 25 minutes
Bake: About 35 minutes
Shelf Life: 4 to 5 days

For the Brownies:

½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon table salt
½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1¼ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon instant coffee granules

For the Cheesecake

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon instant coffee granules.

Instructions

To make brownie:

1.Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray. (or use parchment paper)
2.In a medium mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
3.In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed or a wooden spoon, beat together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and coffee granules until thick and creamy. This will take about 2 minutes if using an electric mixer or 4 to 5 minutes if creaming by hand. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed or by hand until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
4.Reserve about ¼ cup of the brownie batter for the top. Transfer the remaining brownie batter to the prepared pan and smooth it out into an even layer.

To make the cheesecake

1.In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed or a wooden spoon, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until light and creamy. This will take about 1 minute if using an electric mixer or 2 to 3 minutes if creaming by hand. Add the egg and instant coffee, and beat to incorporate.
2.Using a spoon, dollop the cheesecake batter on top of the brownie mix. Add a dollop of the reserved ¼ cup of the brownie batter in the center of each cheesecake dollop. Using a skewer or butter knife, swirl the batters together.
3.Bake for about 35 minutes, until the top is set.
4.Let the brownies cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours to set.
To serve, cut into 9 bars. Serve the bars chilled or let them come to room temperature before serving.
Add more chocolate to create a rich, dense brownie. Do so by melting 4 ounces of semisweet baking chocolate with the butter or add 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips to batter.

NOM-NOM-licious Chicken and Gravy (Instant Pot Chicken and Gravy)

By threejamigos | November 4, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

AN HOUR AND A HALF commute home from work left me cranky and hungry. I slammed my stuff down on the kitchen table and headed to the fridge, yanked the door open and searched for something quick to make for dinner. I found a whole chicken I had bought the day before and thought ugh, that will take a while…I WANT TO EAT NOW.

Lightbulb moment

I remembered I had saved an Instant Pot recipe for Chicken and Gravy from NOM NOM Paleo. Quick and easy, the perfect solution for my dinner dilemma. Though not a strict Paleo diet follower, I like the NOM NOM cookbook and blog and have an affinity for the NOM NOM author (plus I love saying NOM NOM). Like me, she is a pharmacist by trade, a fellow drug pusher-legit one, lol. The natural crossover between being a pharmacist and being a cook or baker. Numbers, measurements, proportions, being a bit OCD- all part of both professions.

A few easy steps and dinner is on the table in 44 minutes and 37 seconds at most. See, pharmaceutical precision. While the chicken is cooking, make some rice or egg noodles to go along or if you want to keep this a paleo meal, make cauliflower rice or potatoes (Po-ta-toes! Boil them, mash them, stick them in a stew. Lovely big golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish-that line pops in my head every time). The sauce is so yummy you will want something to soak up every drop.

The recipe calls for browning the chicken in your pressure cooker, taking it out and sautéing onions, garlic and a bit of tomato paste, putting the chicken back in the pot, on top of the onions, adding a bit of broth and setting the pot timer to 20 minutes cooking. Yep, that’s it.

Saute onions and garlic until soft.

Add tomato paste and broth to pot. Place a wire rack on top to hold the chicken. You can add a bit of herb for additional flavors such as a sprig of thyme, oregano or rosemary. Just to kick it up a bit.

After removing the chicken (and fresh herb sprigs), use a hand blender to puree the onion-garlic mixture which becomes the luscious gravy-yum yum. The original recipe calls for thickening the sauce but I didn’t bother. I wanted to dig in! So delicious!!!!!

Dinner is served and elevated my mood to happy, happy, happy.

NOM-NOM-licious Chicken and Gravy

delicious, easy, pretty darn quick, Instant Pot Chicken and Gravy

Course dinner

Cuisine Asian-American

Keyword Chicken, gravy, Instant Pot, nomnom

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 37

Ingredients

Adapted from Nom Nom Paleo
1 4-pound organic chicken (a bigger chicken won’t fit in a 6-quart Instant Pot)
1.5-2 teaspoons kosher salt if using table salt, cut amount to 1 teaspoon
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of ghee or vegetable oil divided
2 large yellow onions diced (or use 1 yellow, 1 red)
6 garlic cloves peeled
2 teaspoons tomato paste
½ cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 T water

Instructions

Sprinkle 2 teaspoons salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper all over the chicken, inside and out. Tuck the wings behind the back.
Add 1 tablespoon of ghee or oil to the pressure cooker, press “Sauté” function on your electric pressure cooker.
When the fat is shimmering, sear the chicken breast-side down in the center of the pot for approximately 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
Flip the bird breast-side up. Cook for another 5 minutes or until browned on the back. Don’t worry if the skin sticks and tears—the skin won’t be crispy when you’re done cooking anyway. You’re just browning the skin to deepen the flavor of the gravy.
Transfer the chicken to a plate and add the remaining tablespoon of ghee or oil to the pot. Once it is heated, toss in the chopped onions, 6 garlic cloves, and a sprinkle of salt.
Cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until softened.
Stir in 2 teaspoons tomato paste and cook for about 30 seconds.
Turn off the sauté function. Pour in ½ cup broth, scraping up any browned bits.
Add steamer insert to the bottom of the pressure cooker, and lay the bird on top of it, breast-side up. Cover and pressure-cook on high for 20 minutes).
Turn off the electric pressure cooker, and immediately release the pressure manually. Open the lid and transfer the chicken to a plate or carving board. Tent the cooked bird with foil, and rest it for 10 minutes.
Use an immersion blender to purée the contents of the insert to make a smooth gravy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
If you want to thicken the gravy, mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water. Then, turn on the sauté function and bring the contents to a simmer. Stir in the arrowroot powder slurry and cook until thickened.
Carve the chicken and top with gravy. Garnish with parsley if desired.
Make sure to have a ginormous bowl of rice or buttered noodles to serve along side..just for the extra gravy!

Corn Cookies If You Bake It, They Will Come (Momofuku)

By threejamigos | November 1, 2017 | Comments 4 comments

Tried and True

Two cookies have shown up in photos in previous posts that have never been given their just due, Christina Tosi’s Corn Cookies and Brown Butter Salted Rice Krispy Treats from Smitten Kitchen. After trying a couple of new cookie recipes that were not up to snuff, I decided to make one of these tried and true recipes to help get my cookie mojo back. The hubster lobbied for Corn Cookies so I pulled the cornflour and freeze-dried corn kernels out of the pantry, the combo that gives these cookies their one-two corn punch, and got busy.

Summer Sunshine in a Cookie

I adore these cookies. Each bite tastes like buttery, sweet-salty corn on the cob. I imagine myself baking a batch of these at the end of every summer to soften the blow of NO MORE fresh corn at my local farmer’s market.

These cookies require beating the butter, sugar, and eggs for 7-8 minutes. Don’t skimp!

I used a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop to measure out the dough. This gives you uniform cookies.

Lightly press cookie dough to approximately 1/3-1/2 inch thickness and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Yep, I love these cookies. So good and yet people seem to gravitate toward that plate of chocolate chip cookies. These corn cookies are deceptively unassuming and often get passed up for cookies with bling (chips, candy bar pieces, the kitchen sink). Sometimes I don’t say anything so I can take the cookies home for myself. Most of the time I say “Try it, you’ll like it!”, and invariably I end up going home with an empty platter.

Corn-y Tips

The original recipe calls for bread flour but all-purpose flour can be used. My theory is all-purpose flour causes the cookie to spread a little more and flatten out. Bread flour has more protein giving the cookie more structure. Corn Flour (Bob’s Red Mill) as well as the freeze-dried corn (Just Tomatoes), can be found at Whole Foods and online at Amazon. Grind the freeze-dried corn in a food processor or crush it with a rolling pin. I make my cookies smaller using a scant 1/4 cup scoop which shortens the baking time to 10-12 minutes. These cookies are like that ray of sunshine that warms your face and makes you smile. Put them on your cookie bucket list! 🍪🍪🍪🍪/☀️☀️☀️☀️

Fabulous Ferry Building- I Left my Tastebuds in San Francisco

On a weekly Farmer’s Market foray, I headed to the City (yes, San Francisco) to the Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building. A typical visit to the Ferry Building includes:

Momos (Nepalese dumplings) from Bini’s Kitchen
Coffee from Red Bay and enjoying the fantastic view
A quick peruse of books at Book Passage, a small but mighty outpost of this Indie book store. They know their books!
Empanadas from El Porteno Get ready to wait in line.
Cookies from Batter Bakery Their Sand Angel Cookie is glorious. So sad they don’t have their store on Polk now 😢
Getting whatever produce is in season, any gorgeous fruits and vegetables!
Miso & Shio Koji from Aedan which now has a grocery store with her delicious bentos in the Mission

But I digress, my latest find at the Ferry Building is a local farm, Tierra Vegetables in Winsor that mills cornmeal from its own dried corn crops. Omgoodness, the array of cornmeals in a rainbow of colors is amazing. The aroma of toasted corn explodes as soon as you open the bag. Simply the best. I’ve tried their toasted black cornmeal which has a fine texture and toasty flavor, really dynamite in these cookies.

My latest batch uses their Hopi Pink Cornmeal, lighter and more subtle in flavor, if you’re lucky you’ll get one with ruby pink flecks. Their cornmeals are milled fine so I use it in place of the corn flour. The corn varietals also have varying hardness. Talk to them, they’ll tell you which one is best for cornbread or cookies.

Momofuku Corn Cookies

Chewy, buttery, crispy edges, a cookie that taste like corn on the cob

Course cookies, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword christina tosi, corn cookies, momfuku

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 9

Ingredients

Creamed Mixture

16 tablespoons 2 sticks unsalted butter (225gm)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 300 gm
1 large egg

Dry Ingredients

1 1/3 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour 225 gm
1/4 cup corn flour 45gm
2/3 cup freeze-dried corn 65 gm finely ground
3/4 teaspoon baking powder 3gm
1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1.5 gm
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 6gm or half the amount of table salt

Instructions

Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, cornflour, corn powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Using a 2 3/4-ounce ice cream scoop (or a 1/3-cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature they will not bake properly.
Heat the oven to 350°F.
Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center; give them an extra minute if not.
Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or to an airtight container for storage. At room temp, the cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

So Eat It, Just Eat it (Roasted Cauliflower with Cumin, Turmeric and Lemon)

By threejamigos | October 26, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

When I was a kid there was a definite hit list of vegetables we absolutely hated. My brother and I had all sorts of tricks to avoid eating them. We would stuff our mouths full of peas, run to the bathroom and spit them out. We weren’t too big on brussels sprouts or cauliflower either, we would drop them in our napkins and again run to the bathroom to toss them out. In defense of these veggies, our vitriol came not from the veggies themselves, but from the method of preparation. Peas were often from a can (uh-huh, how many of you remember canned peas, greenish-gray mush balls-bleah). Cabbage and cauliflower were boiled-just the smell emanating from the kitchen would make us run and hide. Brussels sprouts were absolutely horrible, bitter, sulfurous, and barely edible.

These days the quality of today’s produce is so much better. We can go to our local farmer’s market and find just picked brussels sprouts and cauliflower, vine-ripened tomatoes or corn that was still on the stalk that morning. We have also discovered new ways to cook said vegetables that are INFINITELY better than boiling or steaming.

FOR EXAMPLE. I love roasted vegetables. Roasting brings out the sweetness in veggies like cauliflower or brussels sprouts, making them absolutely delicious. Perusing Meera Sodha’s Made in India I came across a recipe for Roasted Cauliflower with Cumin, Turmeric, and Lemon. My first thought? Oh yeah, SO making that.

The recipe, like many in the book, calls for a mortar and pestle to grind the spices. I know what you are thinking, oh please, you don’t have a mortar and pestle do you? Way back when I graduated from pharmacy school I received a set of spatulas from Eli Lily (pharmaceutical gorilla) and a mortar and pestle. They have served me well…just not in my profession. The spatulas and the mortar and pestle were long ago re-purposed and added to my culinary gadget collection. The mortar and pestle proved to be the perfect tool for grinding spices and making the spice paste for this dish.

The cauliflower is blanched for a quick minute, seasoned with the spice oil which gives it a vibrant golden yellow hue. Pop it in the oven for a quick roast and yep, dunzo, dinner is ready. A bowl of warm cauliflower, crispy on the edges, creamy in the center seasoned with cumin and turmeric in just thirty minutes. I am thinking about adding cubed potatoes the next time I make this, a riff on Aloo Gobi.

Excuse me it’s time for me to run TO the dinner table.

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Roasted Cauliflower with Cumin, Turmeric and Lemon

Ingredients

1 large head of cauliflower around 1 1/4 pounds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 to 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
5 tablespoons canola oil
1 lemon

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two oven trays with foil and bring a deep-sided pan of water to a boil.
Wash the cauliflower, pull off the leaves from around the side, and discard. Break the cauliflower into small, fairly even-sized florets and set aside.
Put the cauliflower into the saucepan of boiling water and blanch for 1 minute, then drain really well. Let it dry for around 5 minutes in its own steam; if it is waterlogged it won’t crisp up nicely in the oven.
Using a mortar and pestle, grind the cumin along with the salt, then add the chili powder and turmeric, followed by the oil. Mix it all together really well.
Lay the cauliflower out onto trays in one layer and drizzle the spicy oil over it. Make sure the cauliflower is well coated
Put trays in the oven for around 30 minutes, shaking them every 10 minutes or so to ensure the florets roast and brown evenly. If they start to burn, loosely cover them with foil.
Put the roasted cauliflower in a dish or bowl, and squeeze the lemon over the top before serving.
Adapted From “Made in India” by Meera Sodha

Happy birthday Claire!

Good Morning Mr. Phoods (Cilantro Chutney Chicken Curry)

By threejamigos | October 21, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

Good morning Mr. Phoods:

The dish you are about to take-on requires that you answer the following questions. Your answers will determine whether you should proceed with this post or not.

Do you like cilantro?

What does cilantro taste like to you?

If you answered NO and it tastes like soap exit NOW by clicking on MII consolation

If you answered yes and yumminess, I LOVE cilantro…your mission, should you decide to accept it, will be to run to the store for cilantro, boneless chicken, peanuts, garlic, and onions and make this dish. As usual, if you or any other MII fans (Made In India) should be caught while making this dish you will be required to….invite me over for dinner. If not, the secretary (again me) will disavow any knowledge of you.

Yes, Meera Sodha’s Cilantro Chutney Chicken from her book Made In India is that good. It inspired me to create this homage to one of my all-time favorite TV shows.

Start by making the chutney. The chutney is sweetened with brown sugar, umami filled from the cilantro, and tangy from the lemon juice. The peanuts give it body. The green chili adds a spicy finish. If you can’t find Indian green chilis, you can use jalapenos or serranos, not quite the same but will work in a pinch. If you have extra chutney after making the chicken, spread it on some naan or crackers. Make it in a blender or food processor. thin the chutney with a bit of water if it seems too thick.

This cilantro chicken curry is very user-friendly. Despite being a newbie at cooking Indian cuisine, this dish was not intimidating and very “doable” and took just minutes to make. First, saute boneless chicken with onions and the garlic-ginger paste, then add the cilantro chutney and simmer until the chicken is tender. That’s it!

Top with the reserved caramelized onions. This dish is delightful. Every bite is a flavor explosion. It’s a great one-pot meal perfect for a quick weekday dinner.

On its way to becoming caramelized onions, yum.

Quick and easy…if you should decide to accept this Mission Possible, you’ll be handsomely rewarded.

Garnish with the onions and cilantro. Serve with warm Naan and fragrant Basmati Rice.

Enjoy!

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Good Morning Mr. Phoods (Cilantro Chutney Chicken Curry)

Prep Time 17

Ingredients

Ginger Garlic Chili Paste

2- inch piece of ginger peeled and roughly chopped
6 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
3/4 fresh green chili roughly chopped (seeded if you prefer less heat)
salt

Chicken

1 3/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, chopped into 3/4 x 1-inch pieces
6 tablespoons cilantro chutney recipe follows

Caramelized Onions

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 onions finely sliced

Cilantro Chutney

4 ounces cilantro
2 ounces peanuts unsalted and unroasted
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 to 3 small fresh green chilis roughly chopped (seeded if you prefer less heat)

Instructions

Chicken Curry

Throw the ginger, garlic, and green chili into a mortar and pestle, along with a pinch of salt, and bash up to a coarse paste.
Put the oil into a wide-bottomed, lidded frying pan on a medium heat. When it’s hot, add the onions and fry, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes, until they are starting to turn golden. Transfer half of the onions to a bowl and put to one side.
Add the ginger, garlic, and green chili paste and cook for around 3 minutes. Put the chicken pieces into the pan, sear them on all sides and add the chutney. Stir the chutney, pop the lid on, and turn the heat down to medium-low. Cook for around 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
In the meantime, transfer the onions from the bowl into a small frying pan and continue to cook them on a medium heat for another 10 to 15 minutes, until they are dark brown, soft, and sweet, then take them off the heat.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt (or to taste) to the chicken little by little, until it tastes just right, then take it off the heat.
Scatter the caramelized onions over the top of the curry just before serving. Serve alongside some steaming hot basmati rice or a pile of hot, homemade chapatis.

Chutney recipe instructions:

To wash the cilantro, fill a bowl full of cold water and put the cilantro in it. Move the cilantro around in the water, then take it out and shake off the excess water.
Roughly chop the stems and leaves and put them in a blender. Add the peanuts, lemon juice, salt, sugar, turmeric, and 2 small chilis, and pulse them in the blender until the mixture has a smooth, almost pesto-like consistency. Add some water to help the mixture to blend if necessary. The result should be a smooth cilantro chutney which is equally sweet, fiery, and lemony. Add the remaining chili, or more lemon juice, salt, and sugar to balance it to your taste, then spoon it into your clean jar.

Soured by Cookies, Saved by Lemon Cake

By threejamigos | October 18, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

I tried a couple of new cookie recipes recently and as the saying goes, you win some you lose some. The first recipe Malted Milk Chocolate Cookies came from a book I received to review, Holiday Cookies. Decidedly MEH. The malt flavor was barely discernible and the milk chocolate did not stand out.

Another Cookie Bust

A few days later with the fall season in full swing, a recipe for pumpkin snickerdoodles popped up on my feed. Never get swept up by fall pumpkin fever. But they looked delicious so I baked a batch. I waited for the first batch to cool, grabbed one off the rack, and took a bite…MEH. Noooo, another cookie bust. Little pumpkin or spice flavor, very nondescript.

It’s Not a Lemon

A new recipe caught my eye, not a cookie but a cake recipe. Food52 posted a lovely lemon poppy seed cake from Ottolenghi. I am a sucker for lemon and poppy seeds. Hoping my luck would change, and having the utmost confidence in Food52 and Ottolenghi, I decided to make the cake. After all, I can’t have three lemons in a row, even if the last recipe actually calls for lemons.

The cake is quick and easy. The recipe starts with beating eggs and sugar together until thick and frothy. Heavy cream is then added to the egg and sugar blend. I took the heavy whipping cream straight out of the fridge and with the mixer running, added it in a steady stream to the egg mixture. Beat until it has the consistency of pancake batter. The flour is then folded in along with the melted butter, lemon zest, and poppy seeds. The recipe calls for 3 lemons to make 1 tablespoon lemon zest but I only needed two good sized lemons and that’s with really packing the measuring spoon (because I LOVE lemon). The lemon was not overpowering. While the cake was baking, I made the lemon icing. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Spread the icing over the top as soon as you remove the cake from the oven. Do not even think of forgoing the icing. It adds that sweet-tart lemony oomph and creates a beautiful glossy sheen. The cake has a nice crumb and is denser than say a sponge cake but lighter than a traditional pound cake. If you are a poppy seed addict you could increase the amount as you like. Thankfully this cake saved my week of baking. From cookie bust to cake champ. Sweet success.

Bookmark this cake and make it soon, you’ll thank me.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake (National Trust)

An easy, absolutely delicious lemon poppy seed cake from Ottolenghi

Course Cake, Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword banana cake, lemon, poppyseed

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Cooling time 16

Equipment

1 standard loaf 9x5 loaf pan

Ingredients

The Dry Stuff

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 170 grams
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

The Wet Stuff

3 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 225 grams
1/2 cup heavy cream, cold 120 milliliters

Butter Mixture

5 tablespoons 70 grams unsalted butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing
1 -1.5 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tbsp Finely grated zest of 3 lemons I needed only 2 lemons

The Icing

3/4 cup 90 grams confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350° (180° C).
Grease the loaf pan(s) and line with parchment paper, then set aside.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a bowl, then set aside.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, stir in the poppy seeds and lemon zest, and set aside.
Place the eggs and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until pale and frothy.
Add the cold whipping cream and continue to beat for about 2 minutes, until the mixture has combined, thickened a little, and turned pale.
Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredient mix into the egg mixture. Then fold the melted butter, poppy seeds, and zest mixture in.
Spoon the mixture into the loaf pan(s) so that it rises three-quarters of the way up the sides.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

The Glaze

To make the glaze, whisk the confectioners' sugar with the lemon juice in a bowl. Pour the glaze over the top of the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven, spreading it over the top so that it sinks in and creates a nice coating.
Set aside to cool for 30 minutes before removing from the pan.
Let it come to room temperature before serving.