Category: OKK MEMES & PRIOR CONTRIBUTORS

Faux Grilling – Salmon Skewers with Maple-Mustard Glaze ala Year on the Grill


Before I get to the post, I have a question for you ladies… Actually two…

Remember me, Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL. I am the guy who gave you ladies advice on pleasing your man with two ROMANCE POSTS…

So…

Did any of you get diamonds for Valentines Day???

and

Did any of you make Moink Balls for your man???

If you answered “no” to both those questions, you have no one to blame but yourselves. I did my best for you.

But that is old business. Time for today’s post with an explanation of what I call “Faux Grilling”.

It has just been too cold, windy and nasty around here to do any grilling. Unusual for Kansas, but I really can’t remember a day since Christmas when it was above 40 degrees. I did my mandatory, “I can still grill in the cold and snow” session just to prove I could. But it is just no fun.

So, I started “Faux Grilling”. It is pretty easy. I have made Moink Balls, shrimp, pineapple wrapped in bacon (that’s a post for another day) and now Salmon skewers. So, I guess it is time I explained the process.

You need skewers. The flat kind work best so the do not roll. If you don’t have flat skewers, you can use 2 of the long “toothpick” style and create a flat type. In the photo on the right, I am showing the look that you want. I skewered the meat, and suspended the skewers between the sides of a small casserole dish. These were single round toothpick style, and my first efforts at “Faux” grilling. They worked… OK, but when I moved to flat skewers, I was able to turn them and grill top and bottom…


Like this photo to the left. the blades of this skewer are flat, combined with the heads in the shape of bulls and shrimp, I am able to turn the bacon wrapped pineapple (that’s a post for another day), and get both sides “grilled”.

Once I have the meat positioned correctly, I just put them in the oven, set on broil and instead of direct heat grilling over coals, I am direct heat grilling under a heating element.

But it works the same. Notice the char marks, similar to grill marks. You lose those beautiful grill marks, but the taste is as close as I can get and not get my fingers frostbit.

Til I move to a tropical Island (next week), as long as I live in Kansas in February, this is as close to grilling as I am going to get.

But before I leave you for the week, I want to share this quick, easy and great tasting recipe. This post is part of a cultural exchange program called TASTE AND CREATE! Once a month, Taste and Create pairs you with another blogger. You are asked to look over their blog and cook something from it. This month I was paired with Marthe from the Netherlands. Her blog, CULINARY DELIGHTS was great fun to look over. While she is native born Dutch, she does write in English, and very well. You would never guess this was her second language. Marthe makes lots of cupcakes and cookies; plays along with Tuesdays with Dorrie and Craving Ellie in My Belly. She started blogging about the same time I did. It was fun to get to know her.


Plus, I was reminded of my youth. 35 years ago, when I was in high school, I dated the foreign exchange student from the Netherlands. You can file this under too much information, but that Dutch girl was the first I ever… Well, you know the rest, better keep the details to myself. Suffice it to say, anything Dutch always makes me smile just a bit.


But, I digress. here’s Marthe’s recipe for

Salmon Skewers
with
Maple-Mustard Glaze


4 salmon skewers (ready bought President’s Choice, 320 gram)
1/8 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp grainy Dijon mustard (we used regular non-grainy Dijon mustard)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
In a small bowl whisk together maple syrup, mustard, salt and pepper; brush half over salmon skewers. Place skewers on grill over medium-high heat; close lid and cook, brushing once with remaining maple mixture until salmon is done, about 10 minutes.
.They came out PERFECT. Nice and flavorful, cooked to just the flaky stage (I did 7 minutes on each side, flipping the skewers once… same as I would on a grill). I loved the mustard sauce. Very easy and wonderful taste. I plated these with some Chinese Garlic noodles with snow peas. This is also one of the recipes I read on CULINARY DELIGHTS. Marthe’s blog is worth a look. I posted the details of the noodles on my “real” site today, so head over to MY YEAR ON THE GRILL to see how to make them!

Come back next week to see what I come up with during the next few days. It might be my first post after moving to the US Virgin islands… should be interesting.

So long, thank you and a Save Room for Dessert award for YOU

I am so thankful for all the wonderful and creative cooks and bloggers who have participated at Save Room for Dessert since its beginning when my blog friend Tamy started this blog and invited me to host this weekly dessert meme.

All great things must come to an end, so it’s time to say so long, but it is not really good-bye because we are all just a click away on this great super highway of friendly blogs. As I wrote for my Joy of Desserts sidebar, “the road is never long between bloggy friends.”

Gerri of Heart N Soul Cooking, one of the regulars here at Our Krazy Kitchen and at Joy of Desserts, too, has awarded me the Kreative Blogger Award, and I see it fitting to award it back to all of you as a party favor and thank-you for having fun with me while we all Saved Room for Dessert.

You are all creative cooks and bloggers, and your participation and comments are what make any blog successful, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart for every recipe and tip you have shared with me and all of us.

There will still be lots to do and read at Our Krazy Kitchen, so keep on participating here. And since most of the Save Room for Dessert regulars are also regulars and followers at my Joy of Desserts blog, you know that I have lots there too, with giveaways, recipe roundups, Vintage Recipe Thursday, etc. I’ll continue to post there, and I have great new things planned at Joy of Desserts for all of YOU.

I went back in the Save Room for Dessert Archives and below are the creative foodie bloggers who have participated. Most on them were regulars — THANK YOU!!


Joy of Desserts
http://joyofdesserts.blogspot.com

Melissa @ Frugal Creativity

Martha @ The Daily Grind

Terry @ At Home with Terry and Dennis

Chaya @ Comfy Cook

Kristen @ Frugal Antics of a Harried Housewife

Emily @ Marvelous Recipes

Liz @ Hoosier Mama

Chaya @ Sweet and Savory

Jules @ The Persimmon Perch

Sara @ Cooking with Sara

Vickie @ 2babb

Mickey @ Monster Mama

Snowhite @ Finding Joy in my Kitchen

Heather @ Girlie Chef

Lisette @ Fancy Frugalista

Martha @ Menagerie

Reeni @ Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

Angie @ Annie’s Home

Jennifer @ For Such a Time as This

David @ A Year on the Grill

Cook @ The Desperate Cook

Katie @ Food Stuffs

Karen @ Muffin Fixation

Marcia @ Frugal Homekeeping

Anshika @ Cooking Pleasures

Fishie @ The Fishie’s Kitchen

Pat @ Butter Yum

Pamm @ Leftovers On Purpose

Tami @ Around the Table with Tami

Simply Me @ The Local Cook

Jen @ My Petite Chefs

Sweetie @ Vanilla Strawberry Spring Fields

Tara @ Feels Like Home

Carol @ Easy to be Gluten Free

Shaunta @ Live Once, Juicy

Chris @ An Instant Out of Time

Pattie @ Bramasole … to Yearn for the Sun

Velva @ Tomatoes on the Vine

Joanne @ Eats Well With Others

Tamy @ 3 Sides of Crazy

The Kreativ Blogger Award rules.

1. Post the award.

2. Thank and mention the person who gave you the award.

3. Pass the award on to seven blogger’s who you think embody the spirit of the Kreativ Blogger Award.

4. Name seven things about yourself that others don’t know.

5. Don’t forget to notify the your seven Kreativ Bloggers about their AWARD and post a link to their blog.

Don’t miss a guy’s point of view on romance…

I want to make sure you know that this weekend Chris from Nibble Me This is hosting a Valentine’s Romance weekend over at OUR KrAzY kitchen and Dave from My Year on the Grill who hosts I CAN COOK THAT! at OUR KrAzY kitchen has been running a Romance series on his regular day where he tells us what men really want for Valentine’s Day. Now my hubby would tell you that Dave is so right as far as the dilemma between moink balls and flowers and chocolates.

aprons 3

Valentine’s Day Brunch

When I sat down to prepare these two posts for Valentine’s Weekend I was initially unsure of what kind of menu to put together.

Food.
Romance.
Romantic foods? Hmmmmm

Sure, there is that unforgettable kitchen scene from the movie Nine and A Half Weeks. But that was all lust rather than romance. Plus it wasn’t very sanitary 😉

I think most people see “romance” as a means to an end, how to woo the one that has stolen your heart. But my idea of romance these days (we’ve been married 15 years as of this week) is that it is the outward evidence of true love. You can’t “see” true love but you can see the gestures and expressions that true love creates, right?

For example, Alexis was off of work yesterday and I knew I was going to be off today. So before I left the office, I wrote 2-3 “love you” type messages and hid them on her desk where I knew she’d come across them during her day today. Simple gestures, huge sentiment.

So it’s only natural that food is linked to romance. It’s one of my ways of showing my love day in and day out. When it came to creating this brunch menu, I kept it simple and just thought of things that I’ve made for Alexis that she loved.

Eggs Benedict
These are one of Alexis’ all time favorites when we’d eat at Village Inn in Jacksonville Beach or Perkins here in Knoxville, so I finally learned how to make it for her this year. I hadn’t before mainly because I didn’t know how to poach an egg. I found out that I actually LIKE poached eggs…..who knew?

I won’t bother with a recipe since there are a million out there already, but here are some tips for poaching an egg & making Eggs Benedict.

  • Proper temperature is the key. Use an instant read thermometer to get the water to exactly 200f.
  • Fresh, cold eggs retain their shape better when poached. Tip courtesy of Rouxbe Online Cooking School: Place raw egg in bowl of cold water. If it lays flat, it’s fresh. If one end floats up, it is older (good for boiling). If the entire egg floats, it should be discarded.
  • Add 2 Tablespoons of white wine vinegar and 2 teaspoons salt to your simmering water to help speed the coagulation of the egg white (keeping it’s shape better)
  • Poach 3-4 minutes for soft, 5-6 for medium, and 7-8 minutes for hard poached eggs.
  • I used a packet mix to make my Hollandaise sauce the first two times I made Eggs Benedict, just so I could focus on getting the eggs poached correctly.
  • If you don’t want to do the traditional free floating method of poaching eggs, they now have cool silicon “boats” that you can use to poach eggs.

Artichoke Bisque
Alexis LOVES rich flavor. I surprised her with this one for Mothers’ Day 2003 and she adored it.

4 teaspoons flour
8 ounces butter
3 cups beef stock
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 1/2 ea onion, diced
1/2 bunch green onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon thyme
2 cloves of roasted garlic
1 can artichoke hearts with juices (about 2 cups)
1 cup spinach, fresh, rinsed and chopped
salt to taste
1/8 teaspoon Tabasco
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup heavy cream

Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Whisk in flour over low heat and whisk constantly for 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in beef stock after that. Then add celery, onions, green onions, bay leaf, thyme and garlic. Simmer for 45 minutes.

Finely chop artichoke hearts, chop the spinach and add to the mixture, continue simmering another 30 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool slightly and then puree it in a blender, food processor, or with an immersion blender.

Add cream, wine, Tabasco, and salt & pepper to taste. Bring back just to a simmer, garnish with whatever you like (croutons, fried leeks, sour cream, etc), and serve. Today used fried leeks and thyme.

Mini Monte Cristo Sandwiches
This is another dish that Alexis enjoys unabashedly. It’s a finger food variation of the Croque-monsieur. It is basically a ham n swiss sandwich given the french toast treatment. Sounds odd but try it. It’s amazing.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons butter or margarine
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
8 Slices white bread
4 ounces swiss OR fontina
4 ounces cooked ham
3 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 Env. Golden Onion Soup Mix
1/4 cup butter or margarine

Instructions
Equally top 4 bread slices with cheese and ham; top with remaining bread, buttered side down. Cut each sandwich into 4 triangles. Beat eggs, milk, and golden onion recipe soup mix until well blended. Dip sandwiches in egg mixture, coating well. In large skillet, melt 1/4 C butter and cook sandwiches over medium heat, turning once, until golden. Makes about 16 mini sandwiches

The KEY part that they left out is the dipping sauce. Warm raspberry preserves over low heat and serve in a sauce cup, it makes the dish.

Grapefruit
Alexis is a certifiable grapefruit freak and just Thursday I received a shipment of California oranges and grapefruit from a family member, so I just had to include those. I was going to make this citrus salad but Alexis didn’t like the sound of the recipe so I went with a basic sectioned grapefruit. Nothing sexy but she loves them.

Mimosas
Come on, it’s brunch. mimosas are obligatory.


Part II – The Valentine’s Dinner
This is coming tomorrow, but to give a little preview, here is the premise: My martial arts instructor has been learning to really cook for the past year. He recently got engaged. My 15th anniversary is this week. So he and I are cooking Valentine’s Day Dinner for his fiance and my wife!

Easy Chocolate Torte

This is one of the easiest elegant desserts I have ever made. It screams chocolate in every bite – perfect for Valentine’s Day. It is straight from Taste of Home. It uses all convenience foods which is normally not what I do, but instead of getting any better, my harried-ness is out of control right now. You certainly could use a homemade brownie recipe and then whip real cream with powdered sugar and vanilla for the topping.

1 package fudge brownie mix (13-inch x 9-inch pan size)
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1/2 stick butter, softened
2 cups whipped topping
1 teaspoon chocolate sprinkles

Directions

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions for fudge-like brownies. Spread batter in a greased and floured 9-in. round or springform pan.

Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until center springs back when lightly touched. Cool for 10 minutes. Invert or release onto a serving plate; cool completely.

In a bowl, stir the melted chocolate and butter until smooth. Spread over brownie layer; refrigerate for 30 minutes. Just before serving, top with whipped topping. Decorate with sprinkles. Yield: 9-12 servings.

ROMANCE Part 2 – CHOCOLATE – Ala Year on the Grill

OK ladies, I gave you my advice on how to really make a meal your man would love for romantic occasions (like Valentines day) a couple weeks ago. I was dead serious that what men really want would be MOINK BALLS. Beef Meatballs, wrapped in bacon says lovin‘ to that man of yours. Click HERE to get to that post. But, you all being women, I really don’t expect you to do the logical thing and give your men what they want. Instead, you are going to try to foo foo the day up and make us men folk pretend to enjoy things like this…

Chocolate Covered Strawberries dressed in Tuxedos… Accented with Chocolate Hearts!

Sigh, ok, I’ll bow to the conventional wisdom (but as an experiment, put 6 Moink balls in front of your man, and 6 Chocolate covered strawberries next to the moink balls and see which plate ends up empty… But i digress)… As I was saying, I bow to conventional wisdom and will give you all a lesson in the easiest thing you will ever see me make.

It looked SO EASY, I was sure that even though I have never made anything with melted chocolate before, I CAN COOK THAT!

Credit where credit is due, I saw these on Regis and Kelly this week. It was just as easy as they made it sound. the only ingredients and supplies you need is some…

Dark Chocolate bark
White Chocolate bark
Strawberries
Parchment paper
double boiler and water
Pastry bag for decorating (or just a ziplock bag with a corner cut out)
and a spoon…

First, set up a double boiler. This was my first time melting chocolate in a double boiler, but it worked just like it was supposed to.

Get some water boiling, put a bowl in the water. I put a couple spoons around the edge so the bowl never touches the bottom of the pan, nor the sides.

Watch it carefully, stir occasionally and in about 10 minutes, you have melted chocolate. Do the white first…

Just like it looks, you are making the shirt front only, so you only need to dip the front in the chocolate. Allow it to cool.

Meanwhile, it is time to make a few chocolate hearts… With that rustic homemade look that you will pay big bucks for in a candy shop…

This is easier if you use your wife’s pastry bags. Or, if you don’t have a wife with pastry bags, put the still warm melted chocolate in a plastic bag and cut just a tiny hole in one of the corners.

Make two dots, about the size of quarters, use about 2/3rds of the amount of a Hershey’s kiss in each dot. Space them about 1/2 inch apart. use the flat side of a spoon to spread the dots out so they touch and then swirl down to form the heart. Allow to cool and viola.

I made several, til I was out of white chocolate. So, now it’s time to do the same melty thing with the dark.

I am sorry I did not take more photos of the process of the dark chocolate to get the tux look on the strawberries. But, just dip from the side, being careful to leave the white “V” shape of the front of the shirt showing.

Then use another pastry bag (or a very tiny hole in a plastic bag) and draw a little bow tie and a couple dots for buttons. Guys would still rather have Moink Balls, but women folk go weak in the knees over this kind of stuff.

Here’s the plate I gave my wife for an early Valentine’s Day gift. Her knees were so weak, she could hardly climb the stairs to thank me in the only way better than Moink balls… But I digress…

Here’s something really important…

A lot of this post should be dedicated to a wonderful blogger, katherine from SMOKEY MOUNTAIN CAFE. Just this week, Katherine had an opportunity to go to New York City, meet regis and Kelly, take cake decorating classes from a celebrity baker and have her cake entered in a charity contest to raise money for Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Do me a favor (and yourself), and visit Katherine’s site for details on her trip. Also, take just a second and follow the link she gives to “vote” for her cake. With each vote, the good folks at Electrolux will donate a dollar to the fund. A great cause and a fun read. Click HERE to get to Smokey mountain Cafe and the post on her day of cake decorating!

Ok ladies. You are now armed with the recipe for romantic loving, Moink Balls, and for these silly little trifles. Let your conscience be your guide as to what you think your man would REALLY like for Valentine’s Day.

See you all next Thursday!

Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL.

And BTW, I do wish there was an “I was trying to be funny, please don’t be insulted” Font.

You say zabaglione, I say sabayon: Don’t call the whole thing off, Save Room for Dessert

Do you remember the song? Louis Armstrong and Fred Astaire both sang this romantic tune over the decades, and this dessert from the Joy of Desserts archives would be pretty to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day no matter how you pronounce it.

Whether you call this dessert zabaglione like the Italians, or sabayon like the French, it is the same classic dessert made with egg yolks and a sweet dessert wine. It only takes about 15 minutes to make and can be prettied up by serving in a glass with berries.

Italian Zabaglione or French Sabayon
Prep time: 15 minutes
Makes 4 servings
2 packages (6 ounces each) raspberries
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dry Marsala or other dessert wine

Divide berries between four 8-ounce dessert dishes or stemmed glasses.
Fill the bottom of a double boiler (or a saucepan with a metal bowl fitted snugly on top) with 1-2 inches of water or just below bowl. Bring water to a simmer.
Beat egg yolks and sugar in top of double boiler or bowl with an electric mixer or wire whisk until fluffy and light in color, about 5 minutes. Maintain water at a low simmer while beating.
Add Marsala, 1 tablespoon at a time, continuously beating until mixture forms very soft peaks, about 8 minutes.
Pour zabaglione mixture over berries and serve immediately.

Nutrition Per Serving: 238 calories, 4.79g total fat, 1.64g saturated fat, 3.39g protein, 37.47g carbohydrate, 209.78mg cholesterol, 2.04g fiber, 192mg sodium
Recipe and nutrition values from Driscoll’s, California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF)

Healthy tips:
* Substitute blackberries, blueberries or about 3 cups sliced, hulled strawberries
* Try a mixed berry zabaglione with some of all the above berries
* 1 cup of strawberries provides an amazing 93% of your day’s supply of Vitamin C
* 1 cup of raspberries and blackberries each provide 50% of your day’s supply of Vitamin C
* Blueberries have one of the highest antioxident values at 5,486 ORAC Value (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) per cup

Happy St. Valentine’s Day,

Joy of Desserts

The new Inlinkz system is located HERE for the SUPERBOWL PARTY and this week for you to add your links and HERE for last week. We look forward to your recipes. Remember we’re looking for that special recipe to feature at the end of February.

Tuscan Vegetable Soup

This recipe comes from Ellie Krieger. Until recently, I certainly would not have craved a vegetable soup, especially one that is advertised as healthy. I always talk about the need to grow in all areas of our life. This is what I am doing because now I certainly crave healthy soups. I, know how good they taste and Ellie has shared more than wonderful soup for us to “kvell” about.

For many years, we have chosen not to eat canned goods because of the high salt content. I have remained true to this and I am not even sure if I ever deviated from this thinking. That is, until I discovered Eden products. There is almost no salt in their canned goods. Now, I have the choice of canned beans for quick soups. I wish I was in my kitchen with a camera to show you my bean shelf. I try to keep as many kinds as are available so, at any moment, I can throw them into a soup or chili or stew. How liberating this is!

Tuscan Vegetable Soup adapted from Ellie Krieger
1 (15-ounce) can low-sodium canellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 carrots, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 stalks celery, diced, (about 1/2 cup)
1 small zucchini, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
32 ounces low-sodium vegetable broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can no salt added diced tomatoes
2 cups chopped baby spinach leaves

In a small bowl, mash a third of the beans.

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.

Add the onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, spices, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, and cook stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the broth and tomatoes with the juice and bring to a boil.

Add the mashed and whole beans and the spinach leaves and cook until the spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes more.

This is a meal, I anticipate making again and again.

I would love it if you would join me at Comfy Cook and Sweet and Savory.

Cooking The Italian Way – Back To Basics

When I first started telling people about my food blog (friends, family, the unlucky soul sitting next to me on the subway on the way from my apartment to Whole Foods) about half of them looked at me as if I were crazy. (I guess the fellow subway rider had an excuse. Who IS this crazy girl who is talking to me about the pros and cons of owning a mandoline?)

My theory on this is that people in general have a fear of what they don’t understand. My mother, for example, doesn’t understand the internet. And so she finds this whole endeavor terrifying.

Some of my friends, I’m pretty sure, have a fear of not eating Chinese take-out every day. And so they can’t for the life of them comprehend why I own a candy thermometer, have a spice collection that is more well-stocked than that of the local supermarket, and care about whether the chicken I’m eating was cage-free or not.

But then. And here’s the crucial part. I tell them that I’m 100% Italian. Born and bred. Through and through.

And a complete metamorphosis takes place. They relax their muscles. Color returns to their cheeks. They stop looking quite so much like they are about to have their wisdom teeth pulled.

Why the sudden change? Because they understand now. They get me. “Italian! Of course! I should have guessed. You must have gotten it from your mother,” they say. With very contented looks on their faces.

Well. Not exactly. Because the thing my mother cooks most often is fried chicken cutlets. And Lean Cuisine. It’s not that she can’t cook. It’s that she has no desire to. So we’re not really sure what happened to me. (I’m going with alien abduction. But she swears up and down that such a thing never occurred. I have my doubts.)

This notwithstanding. While she may not have gotten the Italian gene that confers the desire to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen making homemade gnocchi or stirring marinara sauce, she does, however, have the gene that makes her want to feed anyone and everyone who walks in the door. And she doesn’t take no for an answer.

But what does she give these hypothetical people if she does not cook? You may ask.

And here’s where we get to the crux of the matter.

All you really need. Are what I like to call the holy trinity of Italian food.

Tomatoes. Mozzarella. And basil.

If you have those three things. You can’t. Go. Wrong.

So here are two dishes that use these exact ingredients (plus or minus two more). I promise they will please anyone who walks through your door. Which is why I keep them on hand. All the time.

And the best part is? These recipes are just the tip of the iceberg. You can do just about anything with the trinity (except for maybe use them as ice cream toppings. But I wouldn’t put it past myself to try it at some point) and they will still taste good. So experiment. Mix and match. Substitute. It’s the Italian way to do it.

Olive and Mozzarella Spaghetti
Serves 3, adapted from The Essential Pasta Cookbook

8 oz spaghetti
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil (I used roasted garlic olive oil that I bought at the Ferry St. Market in SF!)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can black olives, halved
3 oz cute little mozzarella balls
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil water and cook spaghetti.

2. While that is happening, cut your ingredients. When the water boils, just as you put the spaghetti in, heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Saute the garlic on low until the pasta is done.

3. Mix all of the ingredients and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Tomato, Basil, and Mozzarella Sandwich

Take a good piece of bread. Any bread. Or a bagel. (Also delicious.) Top it with tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Place under the broiler or on a panini press until the cheese melts. Enjoy.

Thanks for reading along with me! Stay tuned for the next installment of Cooking the Italian Way on the first Saturday of March!

Joanne
Eats Well With Others

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars: Lovin’ From the Oven

Sometimes, I visit blogs just to read the introduction to the recipe.  Some authors are so witty and clever.  They share little snipets of their lives or teach something interesting about the recipe they are posting.  It’s all incredibly entertaining.  Me, well, I am a Harried Homemaker; literally.  I realized at 6pm on Thursday that I didn’t have this post anywhere near ready.  In fact, I didn’t have a post.  Panicking, I grabbed some cooking magazines that I have been meaning to read and poured over them, hoping inspiration would strike.  I weighed the options and then scrambled out to the kitchen to start baking.  I assembled all of my ingredients,  substituted a few things, and whipped up these amazing bars.  Oh!  the aroma that filled my kitchen as they baked.  Chocolate; cheesecake; buttery yumminess.  These would make a great Valentine’s treat, especially if they were baked in a heart-shaped pan. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars:  (adapted from July 2006 Cooking Pleasures)
crust
1 1/2 graham cracker crumbs (I used Chips Ahoy cookie crumbs)
5 Tbsp butter, melted
filling
10 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
dough
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup chocolate chips
topping
2 Tbls chocolate chips, melted
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the crumbs (whichever you choose to use) and melted butter press it into the bottom of a greased 9X9 pan.  Bake 6 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and turn it down to 325 degrees. 
With a mixer, combine the cream cheese and sugar.  Add the egg and vanilla.  Scrape it all down and mix one little bit more and pour it onto the crust.
In the same mixing bowl that you used for the filling, cream the butter and sugars.  Add the salt and vanilla.  Add the flour.  Stir in the chips.  (I used my hands to mush the chips into the buttery dough).  Drop the dough over the filling with a spoon (or your hands…).  Bake for 30 minutes or until set if you jiggle it a bit. 
With a fork, lightly drizzle the melted chocolate chips over and around the top in a quasi-decorative manner. (Having 4 sons has almost completely ruined me for any kind of fanciness; my poor daughter).

Let these cool completely before serving and keep them in the fridge until they are gone….that might not be too long if your family is anything like mine!

BREAD – And YOU can make That Loaf ala Year on the Grill

Greetings! Here’s another YOU Can Cook That post when it should be I can Cook that. BTW, hi again, Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL. The resident cook in training. Today, I am addressing only one blogger out there (but I suspect there are other bloggers who have not baked a loaf of bread on their own). So this post is directed at Lea Ann of MANGOS CHILI and Z. However it is dedicated to all those “want to be” bread bakers out there.

Now, on my own site, I joke that I am a master baker. Truth is, I have about a dozen loafs of bread under my belt, several trays of rolls and I regularly make hamburger buns, but I am far from a master baker. But, as I have said before, whenever I tackle a project, I do a great deal of research. So what I lack in actual experience, I make up for in book learnin’. I think I can help Lea Ann with her bread baking issues.

Her first issue is that her loafs were chunk hard. In her words, a brick.

You see, she recently was gifted a Kitchenaid mixer. WHOO WHOO! what a great gift! HOWEVER, it has a flaw. The flaw is that Lea Ann believed it’s hype. While it is great for mixing, and with the “dough hook”, it advertises itself as doing the kneading for you; in my opinion, I am going to guess that the kitchenaid over kneaded the dough. Too much kneading will cause the bread to be too hard. So, one suggestion, let the dough mix in the kitchenaid, but do the kneading by hand.

Next, she suggests that the dough does not rise.

OK, a couple of solutions. First, are you premixing the yeast in water. Just a little so that it is dissolved does the trick. And, if you are (as you should), be sure that the water is only luke warm. Just a shade above skin temperature, but not uncomfortably warm. Pee warm if you will (but don’t ask me how I know how warm pee is). If the water is too warm, the yeast will die and nothing will rise. Book says about 105 degrees, but no more than 110.

But yeast dough does rise best in a warm area. I keep the heat turned down in the house while my wife is away at her inconvenient day job. So, I need to find the warmest spot in the house to set my dough in while it is rising. Especially on cold days, I like to preheat my oven while my bread rises, and I set the rising dough on top of the stove. With the dough covered, this is by far the warmest spot, and I always get a great rise out of the dough. OR, you can just let the dough rise longer. Dough will rise in a refrigerator if you leave it long enough. Just because the recipe says to let it rise an hour does not mean it will hurt to let it rise three hours.

Another suggestion for Lea Ann is to do a second rise. That is, to do the initial rise, take the dough and hit it hard with a fist. the dough will partially collapse again. then, form the dough into the final product (a dome, a loaf or rope… or whatever). Place the dough on the baking surface, and return to that warm spot and allow to rise again. This second rise will be the one that adds bubbles and tenderness inside the loaf (making it soft).

And finally, to get a more crisp crust, that seals in moisture, take a cup of ice and dump that into the bottom of your stove as the bread is baking (at the beginning of the bake only). The steam will help to seal the crust faster and keep the moisture inside the loaf.

OK, as I promised Lea Ann, I have a wonderful no fail recipe for bread. When hunting for a “standard” bread recipe, I asked for a bit of advice from my favorite blog buddy, Mary from ONE PERFECT BITE. I was a bit surprised when she explained that she does not have a recipe of her own, but uses one from another blogger. Surprised until I found the site of said blogger. These are the famous Moomie’s Buns (I dream of having someone name buns after me one day, but I digress). If you google “Moomie Buns”, you will find about 212,000 links. I initially blogged this on my own site when I made Hamburger buns. Now that I am posting here, you can count at least 212,002. Click HERE to get to my post on hamburger buns.


So, Here’s my Moomie recipe…

� 1 c water
� 2 tbsp butter or margarine
� 1 egg
� 3 1/4 c. flour
� 1/4 c. sugar
� 1 tsp salt
� 3 tsp instant yeast

� Place all ingredients in your bread machine. Select dough. Allow to run cycle.

Now, I have heard that Lea Ann does not have a bread machine. when I learned that, I had already made my loafs for this post. But, it is easy to do what a bread machine does on the “dough cycle”. Just add all the ingredients together in you kitchenaid bowl. Mix until it just forms a ball. Do not over mix.

Then, knead the dough into a ball shape, coat with a bit of oil and allow to rise for at least an hour, until it has doubled in size.

Punch the ball and allow it to collapse a bit (this is all a bread machine does on “dough cycle”).

� Dump out onto lightly floured surface. form into bread shape, or cut and form into bun shape. Place on greased cookie sheets or your bun pans, cover; rise about 30 to 40 minutes. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes til golden. Cool on wire racks.
I cut them into two loaf size, a little on the flat size, I was going to make Cajun Po’Boy sandwiches, so wanted that size.

OK, in the spirit of the original recipe, i made a few additions…

I added…

1 teaspoon of Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
and for an extra kick,
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes!

This recipe is wonderfully adaptable. Add fresh herbs, a little cheese or what have you, and it should work fine. I never make the same loaf twice.

I also brushed the bread with some melted butter prior to baking and sprinkled some onion and garlic flakes on top of the loafs.

I bake bread on a cookie sheet, on parchment paper. Works great for me.

I wanted to include a picture of the ice cubes in the bottom of my oven as the bread was first going into the preheated oven.

It sounds so odd, but it does work to have some steam in the oven.

Lea Ann… You can do this, this recipe, this process has never failed me. There is something primal in making your own bread, knowing what you want to do with it and shaping it accordingly. Once you have some success, you will go crazy as a baker. ALMOST as satisfying as cooking over live fire… but just almost.


And look what I CAN COOK…

Shrimp Po’Boys, and plantain fries…

Come take a look at my site today for the Plantain recipe. and I will post the Po’Boy recipe tomorrow on my site…

See you all next Thursday!

Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL.

And if anyone else has any suggestions for Lea Ann, drop her a comment here!

Strawberry cream pie recipe; Surprise your Valentine

Here’s one very tasty strawberry cream pie recipe from my Joy of Desserts archives. It’s a great dessert to surprise your Sweet Valentine — notice how the strawberries are hulled into a heart shape — or you could bake this pie in a heart-shaped plate, too.

It’s quite easy with a store bought pie crust and a basket of strawberries. All you’ll have to prepare is the custard, but if you want to cut corners there too, you could always just replace it with store bought pudding.

Another variation would be to prepare in small tartelette molds. You’ll love this recipe so much, you’ll want to enjoy it all during strawberry season.

STRAWBERRY CREAM PIE

4 Egg yolk
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon of natural flavoring
such as vanilla, lemon, rum, or
Grand Marnier

1 Prebaked pie or tart shell
1 Basket of strawberries

Gently beat the yolks, add sugar and salt. Slowly bring to almost a boil while stirring. DO NOT BOIL or it will curdle. Add flavoring and let cool.

While you are waiting for the custard to cool, wash and cut your strawberries in halves. Gently stir in a few teaspoons of sugar to macerate (marinate for fruits). When cool, add the custard to your favorite pre-baked pastry shell. Line the macerated strawberries all around on top of the custard, covering it completely. Pour all sugar syrup over the top.

Voila! Simple as Strawberry Pie!

Joy of Desserts

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