This holiday season I am determined to post a Twelve Days of Cookies list and I will only stand a chance if I start now. This month Food 52 Baking Club is featuring Ottolenghi’s book Sweet authored with Helen Goh, his dessert partner in crime. As with all Ottolenghi books, this one is beautiful, worthy of your coffee table, but more importantly, worthy of use in your kitchen.
A long long time ago in a kitchen somewhere far away, I tried to make madeleines. I flopped, and since then my madeleines pans have been relegated to the back of a kitchen cabinet. Looking for a recipe to try for National Cookie Day (yesterday, hope you made a batch) I came across Ottolenghi’s Saffron, Orange and Honey Madeleines. They looked and sounded so delicious I decided to pull out my forgotten pans and give it the old college try.
I’m glad I did. The madeleines are buttery, cakey, tender, everything a madeleine should be and more.
The batter is made in a food processor (oh snap). Eggs and sugar are whirled in the processor, flour and leavening added, pulse a couple more times and then add the saffron infused melted butter. The batter is poured into a WELL BUTTERED AND FLOURED pan (trust me on this) and baked for 7-9 minutes. In those short minutes, your entire kitchen will be blanketed by the aroma of vanilla, butter, and orange, heavenly.
The cooled madeleines are popped out of their shells (haha, get it?) painted with heated honey (watch your fingers, the honey is hot) and one end rolled in ground pistachios.
So good. If you don’t have a madeleine pan you could probably use a mini-muffin tin…they’ll still be delicious but they just won’t be the same (sigh).
You can find the recipe on Bon Apetit but without weight measurements (boohoo). If I were you I’d splurge and get the book, totally worth it!
I recently received Top Chef Winner Kristen Kish’s beautiful book, Kristen Kish Cooking: Recipes and Techniques from Blogging for Books. Right off the bat I am going to say I am torn. It is a DROP DEAD GORGEOUS book and I am in love with it…but from afar. This is like that “out of my league” guy I was never going to get and if he ever spoke to me, I would have sounded like a babbling idiot…intimidated by his awesomeness.
My first run through of the book, I literally drooled over every dish. All I could think was has she opened a restaurant yet? If so, where is it? I’m making reservations. Actually making one of her creations seemed daunting.
Each plate is a work of art, each plate reminds why she is a chef and I am a home cook with kids, a dog and a job that will pay for a visit to wherever she ends up creating her beautiful food. Her presentation is stunning simplicity that belies the complexity and thought she puts into each dish. Each recipe is accompanied by a story from her life or how the recipe came about. I loved reading these little vignettes. Her description and use of a variety of techniques in each recipe will no doubt make anyone a better cook.
The second time I picked up the book I knew I had to gather up the guts to pick a couple of things to try, after all I needed to review the book. The book is divided first by snacks, salads, sweets and by protein-meat or from the sea. Each recipe contains liners on what techniques are used in the recipe and ingredients in one column and directions in the inner column. Very well organized.
Confession, I looked for the easiest recipe I could try. A dish that didn’t require special ingredients or a multi-step process to make.
I decided on her Sour Cream Cake, Pecan, Malted Milk Creme Fraiche, baking is in my comfort zone. The batter was fairly straight forward, I have a 8-inch round cake pan and amazingly I also had the malted milk powder.
Things were going smoothly…right up until I put the batter in the pan. Hmm, it’s a lot of batter, it’s pretty dense, maybe it doesn’t rise that much.
WRONG. Though I knew better I wanted to follow the directions explicitly. Halfway through baking the batter oozed over the sides of the pan like the BLOB and dropped onto the floor of my oven. I quickly shoved some foil underneath, a little smoke but at least the smoke alarm didn’t go off, catastrophe partially averted.
I e-mailed Kristen and she was great. She recommended a springform pan or extending the walls of my pan with a parchment collar. Mine took well over an hour and was still undercooked in the center. The edge was delicious, the cake was buttery and tender. She texted me again after making the cake for her family. Hers took 49 minutes to bake and she used a deep 8 inch springform. Definitely going to try this again.
I tried a second time using a 9 inch springform and to prove you can teach an old dog new tricks I extended the sides with parchment. In my haste I used butter that was still cold, I thought I could get by. WRONG AGAIN. Mea culpa. Ugh, the cake came out a little dense. It required around 50 minutes to bake despite the larger pan.
Note to self and everyone, use a pan with at least 3 inch sides or taller and room temp butter! No shortcuts.
I will try again as the third time is always a charm. I think I would use light brown sugar instead of dark for a milder flavor. I love the nuttiness and the crunch of the pecans and the hit of salt in the topping.
Whew.
I then tried her recipe for Cavatelli, Corn, Roasted Tomato, Thai Basil.
Full disclosure. I CHEATED.
I bought pasta instead of making the cavatelli. The sauce was easy to prepare and delicious. I love the roasted tomatoes and charred corn and the creaminess of the sauce. Much like a carbonara, egg yolks and hard cheese (Romano) are stirred together and hot pasta is added to the mixture which creates a silky lovely sauce. I added a splash of the pasta water to thin it just a bit. Yummy. The Thai basil added color contrast to the dish but just a hint of flavor. I hope it’s not blasphemous but I think I would add a bit of bacon or pancetta next time..yummy
I was about to try her recipe for egg pudding but for 8 eggs (4 servings) it calls for 10 tablespoons of butter, some creme fraiche and a brown butter drizzle on top. Luckily, within the directions I could only account for 7 tablespoons of butter, I’m ok with not using the remaining 3 tablespoons. Decided to save this for a day when I work out first.
There are recipes I am definitely going to try. Even a couple that look pretty involved but sound deliciously worth making. Roasted chicken thighs and Labneh (but first gotta get those Calabrian chilis), Braised Potatoes with Pancetta and Comte, the Potato Puree with Chicken Skin Crisps and the Hamachi, Sweet Onion, Bacon, Miso and Potato are on my bucket list. Until then I will keep her book on my coffee table to salivate over and enjoy.
Steamed Pork Patty with Salted Duck Egg-This is My Soul Food
When my kids come home I get busy in the kitchen making EVERY SINGLE DISH they love. Their favorites, from soup to dessert/ I usually have a pot of chili or spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove while they’re home and I pull out my Dad’s recipes for down-home Chinese dishes. Wes makes short rib stew and carrot cake. It’s 24-7 cooking and eating. What can I say? The Asian language of love is food.
Like Father Like Son
My dad and grandfather were the cooks in my family. My grandfather cooked for a living. Before going off to work we would often have early dinner with him. Always Chinese food, I was surprised when I found out later he was a line chef at Original Joe’s on Broadway and also at the famed Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel. For my Dad cooking was his passion.
Both of them made down-home dishes like Steamed Pork Patty with Salted Duck Egg, Fuzzy Melon soup, Steamed Chicken with Lop Cheung (Chinese sausage) and Black Mushrooms, or whole fish (yes,that means the head too) with green onions and ginger. I loved watching them cook and savored eating these dishes even more. When I went off to school in Los Angeles, I would often call home to ask my Dad how to cook a favorite childhood dish. It was my connection with home and family and a way to keep them close.
A flurry of cooking this past week while the boys were home and the multiple “how do you make” calls from Jamie (who was stuck in Houston) prompted me to add a new section to 3Jamigos. I call it Soul Food. It’s down-home cooking, cherished recipes to share with family and friends. Take a peek, it might bring back some great memories. Or share a family favorite, I would love to post it on my blog.
My inaugural post for Soul Food is a down-home favorite, savory Steamed Pork Patty with Salted Duck Egg (咸蛋蒸肉饼). You can find it in hole-in-the-wall Cantonese (southern China) restaurants or if you get invited over for family dinner at any of your Cantonese friends’ homes. In Chinatown, the best place for this dish was Sun Tai Sam Yuen on Jackson Street in my humble opinion, lol.
The ground pork is seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce and topped with the salted duck egg. Think of this as a version of a sausage patty topped with a fried egg. See, not so strange after all. My kids scoop up chunks of the patty and egg and mix it into their rice. Yum.
Things They Don’t Tell You in Cookbooks
Although simple to make, there are pearls of kitchen wisdom on how to prepare this dish. First, the pork. My mom would tell me to buy pork butt or shoulder and hand-chop the pork at home, better texture. The pork itself should not be too lean as the fat adds flavor and keeps it from drying out. This primer on pork pretty much holds for any dish that requires ground pork-don’t buy pre-ground (ok, sometimes I cheat-there is a coarse ground version in Chinese markets), and ask for “bun fei sau-half fat, half lean” (半肥半瘦). This is not a health-conscious choice, lol.
Duck, Duck, Go…get Chicken, it’s Ok
Raw salted duck eggs are hard to find. I was really excited when I found local salted duck eggs at Marina Foods from Metzer Farms. Great quality. The eggs are brined in a salt solution for approximately a month. At the end of the month, the yolk has hardened, the white has a gelatin-like consistency, and the egg has a wonderful briny flavor that goes well with pork. You are more likely to find salted chicken eggs which are perfectly acceptable.
When mixing the seasonings and egg into the pork, stir in ONE DIRECTION only. So pick, clockwise or counter-clockwise and stick with it. DON’T ASK ME WHY (ok, I googled it, supposedly it keeps the meat tender). My Dad told me to do it this way.
This is How We Do It
Place seasoned pork in a glass pie plate, smooshing it around the plate. Fill a Chinese rice bowl 1/3-1/2 full with HOT water. Slowly pour the hot water into the pork, stirring and breaking up the pork further. The final mixture will be loose and wet looking. Slice the yolk of the duck egg into quarters or 4 slices. A word of warning, it will be a little slimy feeling. Flatten the pieces of yolk with the side of the knife. Place the flattened pieces of yolk on top of the pork distributed evenly around the patty. Top with green onions. Place in steamer and steam over medium-high heat for about 15 minutes or until the juice runs clear when pierced with a knife or chopstick.
Just before serving, garnish with more green onions or cilantro and a drizzle of oyster sauce. Serve with a big ass bowl of rice!
Microwave Magic
You can also cook this dish in the microwave instead of steaming it! I have Cook Anyday microwave cookware now, but if you have a vented microwave dish use that. I have a teeny 600-watt microwave. Cook at full power for 8 minutes, done! Adjust for your microwave, for example, a 1000-watt microwave, I might just use 70% power and nuke it for the 7-8 minutes. For foods that are traditionally steamed, you don’t want to zap it quickly as much as gently cook it All in one bowl, no messing with a steamer contraption. Mind-blown microwave cookin’.
1/4-1/3Chinese rice bowl of hot waterapproximately 1/3 cup of water
1Egglarge
1Salted Duck EggFound in Chinese Groceries in refridgerator section or with egg, should be uncooked.
Seasonings
2tsp.Soy Sauce
1tspoyster sauce
2tsprice wine or sherry or sake
1/2Tsp.Sugar
1/4tspSalt
Dash of white pepper
Garnish
Green Onions And Cilantrochopped or sliced to look pretty
Instructions
Separate duck egg yolk from the egg white. Reserve the yolk.
Place pork in a shallow bowl or glass pie plate that you will end up using to steam/microwaving it in. Scramble the salted duck egg white with the whole egg, add to the pork.
Stir pork with egg mixture and seasonings, stir in one direction!
Slowly add hot water to the pork mixture, and scrambling the mixture as you add the water. This will make it will look soupy.
Garnish with reserved egg yolk that has been cut Into slices. This is a process. The egg yolk is sticky and ok, kind of slimy (like an egg-duh). Since it has been brined it will be solid. I cut it into quarters and then gently smash it with the side of a knife to flatten each piece. Sprinkle half of the sliced green onions on top.
Steam for approximately 15-20 minutes, when pierced with a chopstick or knife the juices should run clear not pink.
Drizzle with oyster sauce and top with cilantro and the rest of the green onions. If you want a nice sheen, hit it with a little hot oil. (This will also bring out the flavor of the cilantro and green onions when you pour the oil over it.
Serve with rice, lots of rice, copious amounts of rice. Really.
Oh, the places you’ll go, the places you’ll see, the places you’ll eat ….put Nashville on your bucket list of cities to visit! To add to my previous visit to Nashville!
Beautiful morning walking the bridge off of BroadwayBroadway during the day, at night this street comes alive..live music and people everywhere having a good timeMorning in Nashville I hit my fav, Crema for coffee and yes the quintessential hipster dish, avocado toast
SOME MIGHTY FINE BRISKET AT MARTINS in 12 South
Dinner with Vandy Family! Houston Deb and California Deb (me) had our serious doubts about going for Mexican food…but it was pretty darn tasty! Brisket tacos and corn on the cob with crema, chili, and lime.
Damn fine cuppa coffee. We walked to 12South and stopped for coffee at Frothy Monkey and cronuts at 5 Daughters-totally calorie worthy. Check out Urban Grub too!
Cronut Heaven
Vandy beats Kansas!
Yes, Kolaches in East Nashville..so good
Yes, Dorothy, there is ramen in Nashville. Otaku in The Gulch, close to Biscuit Love, another favorite!
Another view from the bridge.
I can’t wait to go back…
Will Blog for Food (Easy Homemade Cookie Cookbook)
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 ofMiranda 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)
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.
Cookiefinity-Triple Play (Triple Oatmeal Cookies from BraveTart)
Ingredients
1cup2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (not too soft)
⅔cup5 ounces packed light brown sugar
½cup3 ½ ounces granulated sugar
1 ½teaspoonsDiamond Crystal kosher salta 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 ¼teaspoonsbaking soda
½teaspoonground cinnamon
1tablespoonvanilla extract
1large egg
⅔cup3 ounces all-purpose flour
¾cup2 ½ ounces oat flour (alternatively, grind old-fashioned rolled oats in a blender)
1cup6 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)
Blueberry-Lemon Shortbread from Miranda Couse’s Easy Homemade Cookie Cookbookis 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!
¼cupchopped dried blueberriesFeel 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)
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.
Tribute to The Piglet
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.
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)
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.
delicious, easy, pretty darn quick, Instant Pot Chicken and Gravy
Course dinner
Cuisine Asian-American
Keyword Chicken, gravy, Instant Pot, nomnom
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 37 minutesminutes
Ingredients
Adapted from Nom Nom Paleo
14-pound organic chicken (a bigger chicken won’t fit in a 6-quart Instant Pot)
1.5-2teaspoonskosher saltif using table salt, cut amount to 1 teaspoon
¼teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
2tablespoonsof ghee or vegetable oildivided
2large yellow onionsdiced (or use 1 yellow, 1 red)
6garlic clovespeeled
2teaspoonstomato paste
½cupchicken stock
1tablespooncornstarch 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!
Yes, Dorothy, there is ramen in Nashville. Otaku in The Gulch, close to Biscuit Love, another favorite!
