RUTABAGAS ANNA

Posted in Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

Talk about life not being fair. This poor veggie falls quite short on looks, no way to sugar coat that pill. But to add insult to injury, someone decided to name it rutabaga. I mean, c’mon! “Go to sleep now, or the rutabaga will come and get you!” No wonder most people don’t even look at them at the grocery store. My friend Denise tells me that in England they are called swedes, a much more poetic name. I was intrigued, so a quick stroll through Wikipedia-Land brought the light at the end of the tunnel: the name has its roots in old Swedish. Rotabagge from rot (root) + bagge (short, stumpy object). so swede would be a natural choice to name these ugly ducklings. Call it swede, rutabaga, white turnip, or snadger (yeah, that too), this recipe is absolute perfection. I still cannot believe that two ingredients (sliced swedes and butter) plus a little seasoning could result in such a perfect side-dish. Pretty easy on the eyes too. So, get over their funky looks and unfortunate name. Bring them home, get slicing and cooking… Did I mention it is reasonably low-carb?

RUTABAGAS ANNA
(slightly modified from Ketogasm)

2 small rutabagas, thinly sliced
½ stick of butter
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice rutabaga thinly using a mandolin or knife. Reserve the sliced rutabaga in a bowl. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add thyme to melted butter and let it gently simmer for a couple of minutes.
.
Pour the melted butter herb mixture over the sliced rutabaga. Ensure the slices are evenly coated by rubbing them all with the butter using your hands. Gloves work wonders here…

Arrange and layer the rutabaga slices, dividing among the muffin tins, larger slices at the bottom, overlapping smaller slices on top. Drizzle any remaining butter over your rutabaga little towers. Cover the muffin tin with foil.

Bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil. Continue baking uncovered for an additional 25-30 minutes, or until the edges are golden and crispy.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I found this recipe over at Ketogasm, a blog that is new to me. Being a huge fan of Potatoes Anna, but rarely indulging in it, I thought that this version with a lower-carb root veggie could be worth trying. We both loved it. The rutabaga gets very creamy, with the crusty edges offering a nice contrast, very similar to the authentic Anna. I don’t usually like to mess with classics, but there’s really nothing bad to say about this version. My only recommendation is to add more slices to the muffin tin than you think you’ll need. The little towers collapse a lot during baking. Next time I’ll start with three rutabagas and make 6 individual portions. We love our leftovers, and I am not finicky about warming up in the microwave for my lunch next day. If you’d like to serve these for company, do the first step of baking, covered, and reserve. Twenty minutes before serving, finish them uncovered. They keep warm for quite some time. You can add different spices, perhaps. Smoked paprika sounds great, maybe a little cumin for a Southwest flair. Great side dish, satisfying without being too heavy.

Note to self: Try alternating slices of rutabaga and sweet potatoes,
I bet it could look and taste wonderful too!

.
ONE YEAR AGO: The Ultimate Raspberry Sorbet

TWO YEARS AGO: Crispy Cornmeal Sweet Potato Fries

THREE YEARS AGO: Pan-grilled Tilapia with Smoked Paprika & Avocado Cream

FOUR YEARS AGO: Golden Saffron and Fennel Loaf

FIVE YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, July 2011

SIX YEARS AGO: Heavenly Homemade Fromage Blanc

SEVEN YEARS AGO: A Perfect Sunday Dinner

20Jul2016

A TALE OF TWO MACARONS

Posted in Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

This post is long overdue. The Cinnamon Macarons were made 11 months ago with our friend Cindy, who traveled from Oklahoma to spend a weekend with us. It was our second adventure to perfect these finicky babies, and Cindy, being way more organized than yours truly, brought a bunch of notes about what should have been improved from our previous attempt. Of course, we had so much fun cooking together that we barely paid attention to the notes, and managed to overlook a couple of tips given by Kathryn Gordon in her beautiful book Le Petits Macarons: Colorful French Confections to Make at Home.

CINNAMON MACARONS WITH CRUNCHY CACAO NIB FILLING

OVERVIEW OF THE RECIPE

Equal amounts of almond flour and confectioner’s sugar plus a pinch of salt are mixed with a little cinnamon in the food processor and pulsed a few times. Then some granulated sugar and powdered egg whites are added, pulsed a few more times. The whole mixture is sifted.

A French meringue is prepared with 4 egg whites and a bit of cream of tartar, added to the sifted ingredients, and piped into rounds.

Our filling of choice was a Crunchy Chocolate Ganache made with semi-sweet chocolate, light corn syrup, heavy cream, a bit of butter and – for the final pizzaz: roasted cocoa nibs.

(full recipe can be found in Les Petits Macarons)

Comments: The only problem we had in the making of this recipe was that in some shells the feet “slipped out.” It was hard to find a precise reason for that boo-boo, so we are left with the suspicion that macarons do not appreciate being watched during baking. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. But, you want to know something funny? A little sharp knife worked wonders to trim the runaway feet, and the resulting crumbs go UNBELIEVABLY well over some ice cream. Life gives you lemons? Make lemonade! Macarons give you extra feet? Sweet crumbs it is! Full-disclosure: Cindy and I nicknamed them “toe nail clippings”, much to our husbands chagrin. Oh, well… We could not resist. They were mighty tasty, though.

Cindy, sorry it took me so long to compose this post! That also means that you are overdue for a visit for take FOUR on macarons… Take four, you ask? Well, I made them again a few months ago, this time all by myself, which is not nearly as much fun!

MACARONS, TAKE THREE

Back in February I felt the urge to make macarons again. You know, Valentine’s Day, romance in the air, but winter still lingering around. I wanted a batch of super bright and sexy macarons. Is there anything sexier than raspberries? Obviously not. I opened all my macaron cookbooks (thanks to our friend Gary I own several), searched the net, but when I stumbled upon this recipe, I could not stop thinking about it. Tricia shaped her macarons as little hearts! Of course, knowing my limitations I did not even try to go there. They would end up more like rodent livers or something. But maybe next time…

RASPBERRY MACARONS
(adapted from Saving Room for Dessert)

for the shells:
150 grams almond meal, sift twice
150 grams confectioners’ sugar, sifted
55 grams egg whites, aged overnight

for the meringue:
150 grams granulated sugar
37.5 grams water
55 grams egg whites, aged overnight
gel food color, red

for the filling:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ounce cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup fresh raspberries, pureed and strained
a few drops of vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted (more or less as needed for desired consistency)

Prepare 2 sheets of parchment paper and two baking sheets. To ensure consistent sized cookies, trace a cookie cutter on the parchment paper as a template then turn it over before piping. Prepare a pasty bag fitted with a large round tip. Set aside.

.
Place the almond meal and the confectioner’s sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times. In a large mixing bowl sift together the almond meal and confectioners’ sugar. Make a well in the center and add 55 grams of egg whites. Fold the mixture with a spatula until it becomes a thick, paste-like batter.

Place the remaining 55 grams of egg whites in the large mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Set aside. In a small saucepan combine the granulated sugar and water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Attach a candy thermometer to the pan and heat to 225 degrees. Once the syrup reaches 225 degrees, turn on the stand mixer and beat the egg whites on high. Continue to beat the whites while cooking the syrup until it reaches 239 degrees. You want the meringue to be at soft peak stage so if it reaches that stage before the syrup reaches 239 degrees, turn the mixer down to low. When the syrup hits 239 degrees remove it from the heat and slowly pour it into the egg whites while the mixer is running. Try to stream the syrup directly into the whites close to the side of the bowl so it won’t cool too quickly. Whip on high for a minute then reduce the speed to low and continue beating until the bowl has cooled slightly and glossy stiff peaks have formed.

Add about half the meringue to the batter, gently folding until combined and smooth. Gradually add the remaining meringue, and food color if using, and fold until the batter is smooth. To test consistency, pick up the spatula and if the batter ribbons back into the bowl, it is ready. It should be like lava blending back into itself after about a minute.

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Fill pastry bags with the macaron batter. Pipe the batter into rounds. Once the first sheet is filled, rap the pan on the counter a few times to rupture any air bubbles trapped in the cookie. Rotate the pan and rap again. Set the baking sheet aside to allow a shell to form. This will take about 20-30 sitting out at room temperature. Pipe another sheet of cookies and repeat.

Bake for about 18 – 20 minutes for until you can lift the cookie off the parchment coming away clean. Remove the entire sheet of parchment paper with cookies intact to a wire rack to cool. Once completely cool, remove the macarons from the parchment and fill as desired.

To prepare the buttercream, blend the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the vanilla, raspberry puree, and about 2 cups of the confectioners’ sugar. Blend until smooth. Add the remaining confectioners’ sugar until you reach the desired consistency for the filling. It does not have to be as thick as cake icing as it will harden once refrigerated. Pipe mounds of buttercream on once cookie, top with a matching macaron and twist a little to spread the filling. Refrigerate macarons for 24-48 hours before serving for the best flavor. Allow them to rest at room temperature about an hour before serving.

Makes 30 filled macarons, or about 60 individual shells.
.
ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Definitely some major improvement this time, thanks to a new sifter with a slightly bigger mesh size. Sifting the almond flour/sugar mixture was a breeze, and I decided to simply discard the small mount of coarse bits left in the sieve. Every recipe insists on a fine mesh, but I suspect you don’t need to go too fine, unless you enjoy spending 20 minutes to sift 1 cup of stuff… Nope, not happening again. I am pretty happy with this arrangement. This is a OXO brand sieve, found in our grocery store for very cheap. I love it!

The meringue worked very well, although I was in full hyperventilation mode trying to negotiate the temperature of the simple syrup and the beating of the egg whites all by myself. A second pair of friendly hands would be more than welcome… The final batter had that flowing lava consistency, which always gives me a smile, after all, how many people have actually seen lava flowing? Hopefully not that many, not the type of stuff I’d like to face. At any rate, I guess now it’s a matter of working on technique, piping circles more consistent in diameter, doing a slightly better job in the “macaronage step.” I was afraid to deflate the batter too much and ended up with some spots where the flour mixture did not fully incorporate. When that happened, the shells cracked during baking. I was lucky that it happened to just a few. Being the magnanimous person I am, I quickly swallowed them before Phil even had a chance to see them. What can I say? I give, and give, and give.

Aren’t we adorable?

I hope you enjoyed my little Tale of Two Macarons… I now realize how much I love making them, and hope to try a slightly different take on the subject by baking up a batch of…are you ready for it? Savory Macarons! Kathryn’s book has many variations. Don’t you think Saffron Macarons with Tomato Confit Filling sounds amazing? I might just have to go for it…

ONE YEAR AGO: Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

TWO YEARS AGO: Chicken in Green Pipian Sauce, Sous-vide Style

THREE YEARS AGO: Classic Shrimp Gobernador Tacos

FOUR YEARS AGO: A Walk Towards the Sunset

FIVE YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen

SIX YEARS AGO: Heavenly Home-made Fromage Blanc

SEVEN YEARS AGO: A Perfect Sunday Dinner

16Jul2016

PERFECT SOY-GRILLED STEAK

Posted in Beef, Sous-Vide Cooking by sallybr

I am not too fond of superlatives when it comes to cooking, as what I might consider perfect won’t necessarily hit the jackpot for everyone else. But that’s the title of the recipe by Mark Bittman that happened to be one of the most popular according to a recent round-up by New York Times. If you don’t subscribe to their cooking newsletter, consider doing so. Oddly enough, Phil was the one who drew my attention to it. I joked that we have hundreds of cookbooks in the house, but he never opens a single one to look for inspiration. However, he gets mesmerized by the New York Times collections, and if I resist reading the page, he will drag me in front of his computer to point out all the ones “we should make soon.” We. You know, that pronoun that means more than one person doing something together. So, yes, that’s how I ended up making this recipe. I opted for the sous-vide route because it makes the best flatiron steak in the known universe. How about that for disliking superlatives?

PERFECT SOY-GRILLED STEAK
(adapted from Mark Bittman)

¼ cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon peeled and minced ginger
½ teaspoon peeled and minced garlic (I omitted)
1 tablespoon agave nectar
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 flatiron steak
salt to taste

Mix together the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Place the steak in a plastic bag or tight container and add the sauce. Marinate while you heat the grill, or if possible, longer. Season lightly with salt right before grilling.

For rare meat, grill about 3 minutes a side for steaks less than an inch thick. For larger or more done steak, increase the time slightly.

Sous-vide preparation: after marinating the steak, remove it from the soy-based sauce and place in a vacuum bag. Seal it and place it in a water-bath set to 134 F for three hours. Remove from the bag, discard any accumulated liquid and sear on a very hot grill for a minute each side.

Let it rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: You definitely don’t need a sous-vide gadget to make this steak. But I tell you, if you have one, it is so worth putting it to use here! I make the marinade early in the morning, add the steak into a bag with it. When we are home for lunch I discard the marinade, vacuum-seal the meat and place it in the water-bath until dinner. Timing is so flexible that I don’t even worry about being late. A quick side dish of sautéed veggies and a simple salad, maybe some bread, that’s all we need to be happy campers. For this particular dinner, we paired the flatiron steak in all it’s medium-rare glory with cauliflower gratin (leftover from the evening before) and sliced heirloom tomatoes with avocados and almonds. Pure gastronomical joy, I tell you…

Now, going back to that collection of 10 most-popular NYT recipes. Several gems in there. We are both very interested in the Skewered Chicken with Peanut Sauce, Phil says he wants to make the Pork Chops with Brandied Cherries, I will definitely be making the Flattened Chicken Thighs with Roasted Lemon Slices (wow!)… As far as sweets, the Almond Cake makes me dream… and Julia Child’s Berry Flan goes to the top of my beloved’s list. In summary, out of 10 recipes 6 are definite keepers. Not too shabby at all…

ONE YEAR AGO: The Devil’s Bread

TWO YEARS AGO: Heart of Palm Salad Skewers

THREE YEARS AGO: Potluck Frittata and Lavoisier

FOUR YEARS AGO: Home-made Corn Tortillas

FIVE YEARS AGO: Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Peanut Sauce

SIX YEARS AGO: Brigadeiros: A Brazilian Party!

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Lemony Asparagus

12Jul2016

FOCACCIA WITH GRAPES, ROQUEFORT AND TRUFFLED HONEY

Posted in Appetizers, Breads by sallybr

Truffled honey. Can I get a group OMG going? I hope so… that stuff could probably be under a list of controlled substances… I better use mine up before it does makes into the list. But back to the focaccia. I wanted to bake something for a departmental get-together, scheduled for a Thursday evening. Weather forecast for that week was high 90’s, low 100’s, so turning the oven at 450F seemed wrong on many levels. But the weekend before we got a little break with some rain and cooler temps, so I decided to get the baking out of the way as early as possible on Saturday, then freeze my production until showtime. I also wanted something a little different from the same old same old, and a grape focaccia came to mind. In Tuscany, it is called a Schiacciata con l’Uva, a name that beats grape focaccia into submission. I found a recipe at epicurious, but ended up winging it myself. Rebel is my middle name.

FOCACCIA WITH GRAPES, ROQUEFORT & TRUFFLED HONEY
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

3/4 cup very warm water
1/8 cup milk, full-fat
1 teaspoons sugar
1 + 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil for dough plus more to spread
seedless black grapes
Roquefort cheese, crumbled
dried thyme to taste (or fresh)
Maldon salt flakes
truffled honey (or regular honey)

In the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer stir the warm water, milk, sugar, and yeast. Add the flour, salt and Add the flour, salt olive oil (2 tablespoons) to the bowl, then knead with the dough hook for about 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, and knead it by hand briefly, a minute or so longer.

Place the dough inside an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for 90 minutes. It will more than double, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

Brush a half-sheet baking pan with olive oil, transfer the risen dough into it, and allow it to rest for a few minutes to relax the gluten. Add olive oil on top (about 3 tablespoons) and spread the dough to cover the baking sheet. Cover it again and let it sit for 45 minutes at room temperature. While the focaccia is in its second rise, turn the oven to 450F.

Top the dough with grapes sliced in half, the crumbled Roquefort cheese, thyme, add coarse salt all over, then drizzle the surface with a little truffled honey. Do not add too much, as the flavor is very potent.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. If the top is getting too dark, reduce the temperature to 425 F after 10 minutes.

Cool it on a rack before slicing in squares.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Before anyone criticizes me for taking liberties with the thickness of the schiacciata, let me state upfront that I like my focaccia to be thick and pillowy. If you want to stick to tradition, stretch the dough to the extension of a full baking sheet instead of half. It will then be thinner and crispy. The combination of grapes with blue cheese is a classic, but when truffled honey was added to it, I’d say I hit that one out of the park. And I don’t even like baseball! One word of caution, the stuff is potent. When you open the bottle, the intensity of the truffle smell will surprise you. Use it sparingly or it will overpower every other flavor in the focaccia. Of course, if you don’t have truffled honey, use a regular honey instead. Maybe you own a bottle of truffle oil? In that case, put a small amount of it to use, maybe mix a few drops with regular honey… I suppose that could work well too.

Grab a piece or four… and be happy!

ONE YEAR AGO: Moroccan Carrot Dip over Cucumber Slices

TWO YEARS AGO: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

THREE YEARS AGO: Cilantro-Jalapeno “Hummus”

FOUR YEARS AGO: A Moving Odyssey

FIVE YEARS AGO: Hoegaarden Beer Bread

SIX YEARS AGO: Ancho-Chile Marinade: Pleased to Meat you!

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Shrimp Moqueca

Save

8Jul2016

ZUCCHINI NOODLES WITH SUNDRIED TOMATO PESTO

Posted in Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

One of the best acquisitions for our kitchen was the spiralizer. It is the type of gadget that requires a little bit of getting used to. When I first got it, the idea of dragging it out of the cabinet, setting it on the countertop, and getting my technique right so that the strands would be uniformly gorgeous… seemed a bit much. But trust me, the more you use it, the better you’ll be and the more you’ll fall in love with it. Now I don’t even blink, grab it, and try it on all sorts of veggies, broccoli stalks being the most recent. Stay tuned for that one… Should I call them “broodles?” Yeah, broodles. Mind. Blown. But anyway, zucchini is probably the number one veggie that everyone uses. They have the perfect shape and give super long and beautiful strands. Plus, they marry well with so many sauces: Oriental style like soy with peanuts plus a little fish sauce to hip-it-up, tomato based sauces, cashew cream, real cream, pesto, browned butter… Today I am sharing a recipe from a favorite food blog of mine. I’ve cooked many dishes from The Iron You. Mike raved about the combination of sun-dried tomato pesto and zoodles. He is one smart cookie. It is superb! You must try it.

ZoodlesSundried11

ZUCCHINI NOODLES WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATO PESTO
(adapted from The Iron You)

for the sun-dried tomato pesto:
½ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
⅓ cup roasted almonds
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano cheese
small bunch of fresh basil leaves
salt to taste
4 tablespoons olive oil

for the noodles:
6 medium-large zucchini

In a food processor (or blender) add roasted almonds and basil and pulse until roughly chopped. Add sun-dried tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and Pecorino Romano cheese and process until a uniform paste has formed. Season with a little salt. With the food processor (or blender) running, stream in the olive oil and continue blending until the olive oil is emulsified into the pesto and the sauce looks uniform. Pesto can be stored in the refrigerator with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Using a spiralizer create zucchini noodles using your favorite blade, thin or thick, whatever you prefer.

Boil the zoodles in salted boiling water for 2 minutes, drain and mix with the pesto sauce while still very hot. Sprinkle with additional Parmigiano cheese before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Talk about a tasty pesto! The texture of mine was not as smooth as the one Mike made, at least from the photos, but I don’t think that matters that much. If you prefer a smoother texture, process further and maybe add a little more olive oil. I used roasted unsalted almonds, so I adjusted the seasoning with salt. Mike used salted almonds and he also used garlic, which I am sure most of my readers will enjoy too. I fully agree that it was a match made in heaven with the zoodles. We enjoyed it as a side dish with grilled pork tenderloin, but of course you could make it into a fully vegetarian meal if you add a few more goodies on the plate, like roasted asparagus, a big salad, or a crostini with a smear of goat cheese run under the broiler. Yeah, that sounds about right!