THE SECRET RECIPE CLUB: BLUEBERRY GALETTE

The Secret Recipe Club is a fun monthly event in which bloggers are assigned in secret to make a recipe from another blog, and then post about it at exactly the same time on reveal day. The group is now so popular that new members must wait in a long line for a chance to join. This popularity also explains one of the rules: if you mess up and don’t post on reveal day, you are out of the game, leaving an opening for someone else to take your place. It’s only fair, after all: it’s very disappointing to have your blog “orphaned” on reveal day.

This month was a bit of a stretch to participate, but I’m sure glad I did. My assigned blog was Baking and Creating with Avril. Did you notice the “Baking” in the title? I have a slight suspicion that the SRC organizers like to have a little fun at my expense… How else could it be that I’ve been matched with serious bakers for months in a row? 😉 Still, I love a challenge, and as soon as I got the assignment I jumped into Avril’s cool site, in full “blog stalking mode”. After narrowing a long list of tasty options, I could not decide between the blueberry galette or the white chocolate cranberry bars. You see, she’s got some seriously delicious stuff posted. Phil, the blueberry-addict, made the choice for me. Blueberry galette it would be.

RUSTIC BLUEBERRY GALETTE
(from Baking and Creating with Avril)

for the crust
1 + 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 + 1/2 sticks unsalted butter {ice cold}
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons apricot preserves, warmed

for the filling:
3 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
a pinch of salt

Make the crust: In a bowl of a food processor add the flour, sugar and salt, process to combine. Drop the cold butter pieces and pulse until small pea size crumbles appear. In a small bowl combine egg yolk and milk. Pour into food processor and pulse just until combined. Take dough mixture out of food processor and put onto a piece of parchment paper. Form dough into a large disk, wrap parchment paper around it and place in refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Make the filling by mixing in a large bowl the blueberries, flour, brown sugar, pinch of salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface roll out the chilled pie crust to about 12 inches in diameter. Transfer to a parchment lined large baking sheet. Place the filling in the center of the pie crust, then fold up the sides pleating every now and then. Brush with warmed apricot preserves. Place in preheated oven to bake for 50-60 minutes. Rotating the pan halfway through. Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: As far as taste goes, I hit the nail in the head. I could eat the filling of the galette by the spoonful over some nice, thick yogurt. But, let’s be honest: my product wouldn’t make the finals of the 2012 Galette Beauty Pageant. In my defense, I made this recipe in one of the busiest weekends ever, preceded by a full day flying back to OK and a lab move that began the next morning (Friday) at 5am! That weekend found me like a zombie trying to finish countless tasks at the same time.

But, I won’t sugar-coat the pill: frantic times or not, pie crust is always tricky for me. Usually Phil comes to the rescue, but the poor guy had enough on his plate. My pie dough was not as smooth as I hoped for, so I couldn’t make the beautiful pleats, trademarks of a nice galette. Oh, well… It gives me the opportunity to improve my baking skills, right? Alternatively, I can stand by the title and profess my galette as the most rustic ever! 😉

Don’t let my boo-boos prevent you from making it. Avril is right, the galette is incredibly tasty, and you should also consider making the original recipe (link is in Avril’s blog), that includes a mixture of fresh peaches and blueberries. Oh, my….

Avril, it was nice to “meet” you through The Secret Recipe Club! I hope you had a lot of fun finding your assigned blog and cooking from it!

ONE YEAR AGO: In My Kitchen, August 2011

TWO YEARS AGO: Journey to a New Home

THREE YEARS AGO: Friday Night Dinner (very tasty pork medallions)

28May2012

THE SECRET RECIPE CLUB: ASPARAGUS QUICHE

Posted in Breakfast & Brunch, Secret Recipe Club, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

The last Monday of each month arrives faster and faster, proving that Einstein got it right with his Theory of Relativity of time and space. How else could we explain that I joined the SRC just a little while ago, blinked my eyes twice, and here I am, on my seventh post?

I had a complete blast with this month’s assignment: The Culinary Enthusiast! A catchy blog name, by the way. Kelley lives in Chicago with her husband and a dog-child called Maddy, who gets to enjoy the many treats she cooks. See similarities between our households? 😉 Kelley has very creative recipes, and it took me a few days of “stalking” before I settled on my choice. Asparagus Quiche. Perfect for the season, perfect to remember Paris, perfect for a romantic weekend dinner.

SPRING ASPARAGUS QUICHE
(adapted from The Culinary Enthusiast)

1 recipe for pie crust (I used this one)
1 leek (white and light green parts only), halved and thinly sliced
salt and ground black pepper
1/2 bunch (about 1/2 pound) asparagus, tough ends removed, thinly sliced
3 asparagus stalks, trimmed and left whole (optional)
4 slices bacon, cut in large dice
4 large eggs
1 + 1/4 cups half-and-half
Ground nutmeg
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (4 ounces)

Prepare the crust of your quiche, using the recipe of your choice. Roll it out to cover your pie plate. Prick the surface with a fork a few times, cover the bottom with aluminum foil, and place dried beans to keep the crust down during pre-baking. Bake in a 400 F oven for 15 minutes, carefully remove the foil, place it back in the oven for 10 minutes more. Remove from the oven, and reserve.

Bring the oven temperature down to 325 F, placing a rack in the lowest position. In a large skillet, cook bacon until crispy. Set aside on a paper towel lined plate, allow it to cool, and crumble into smaller pieces. Reserve bacon grease in pan and add the leeks, cook for a few minutes, until softened. Add the asparagus pieces, season with salt and pepper. Cook until the asparagus is crisp/tender, maximum 6 minutes. Let the mixture cool down.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, 1/2 teaspoon salt, teaspoon pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Place pie crust on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with half of the cheese; add the asparagus/leek mixture, top with crumbled bacon. Pour egg mixture on top, add the remainder of the cheese.

If you want to decorate the quiche with asparagus stalks, cook them slightly in a microwave for a minute, then place carefully on top.

Bake until center of quiche is just set, 50 to 60 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

My main modification of the recipe was to pre-bake the crust, because I’ve had problems with the crust getting too soggy when I omitted that step. I also did not use potatoes in the filling, but I know it would be awesome with them too!

As far as quiche goes, Phil and I had the perfect example at a small, unassuming place in Paris, called “Bistrot du Papa”. Don’t go through the trouble of googleing it, it no longer exists. We were in considerable distress when we attempted to go back on our last visit, only to find an Italian restaurant in its place. Ever since enjoying that masterpiece, I tried to make it at home a couple of times, the traditional quiche Lorraine, but my versions had very little to do with the bistrot’s.

I must say this asparagus quiche was by far the best I’ve made! Will I ever hit “Bistrot du Papa” level? Quite unlikely. They have a different type of cream, a different type of bacon, and then there’s the Parisian aura, hard to duplicate at home. Oh, well… We should have stopped there once a week for the duration of that magical sabbatical year!

We’ll always have Paris…
(great scene from Casablanca, 1942)

Kelley, thanks for a great recipe that brought the best gastronomical memories to our table!

Check out the other recipes in this month’s roundup by clicking on the cute blue frog at the end of this post.

ONE YEAR AGO: Spring Pasta

TWO YEARS AGO: Ice Cream Melts for Mango

30Apr2012

THE SECRET RECIPE CLUB: TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Posted in Desserts, Sweets, Secret Recipe Club by sallybr

The last Monday of the month is the much awaited Reveal Day for Group D of The Secret Recipe Club! For those who don’t know about it, The Secret Recipe is an event in which food bloggers from the same group are paired (in secret), and have about 3 weeks to choose a recipe from their assigned blog, cook it, and compose a blog. Everyone publishes their post on reveal day at the exact same time. How cool is that? If you want to become a member (beware, there is a waiting list), visit the site and get in touch with Amanda, the founder of this fun group.

For my sixth participation at the SRC I was paired with “The More than Occasional Baker”, a virtual spot hosted by a very accomplished baker from London. She defines herself as a “baking addict”, and as I browsed through her blog, it was clear she was not kidding! What is a poor cake-o-phobe blogger to do when faced with such a Herculean task? Knowing my limitations, I searched for something that wouldn’t involve creaming butter with sugar, preparing an Italian meringue, or handling icing bags. Suddenly, three beautiful words comforted my soul: triple chocolate brownies. Anything with triple chocolate makes me go weak in the knees, and I am quite fond of brownies because for the most part they are fuss-free. Plus, once I read her post about the recipe, I wanted to stop everything and go buy the three kinds of chocolate (and a little extra of the white, just because… 😉 )

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES
(from The More than Occasional Baker)

200g bittersweet chocolate (1 cup)
50g milk chocolate (1/4 cup)
225g butter (1 cup or 2 sticks)
4 eggs
325g unrefined golden caster sugar (I used light brown sugar) (1 + 1/2 cups)
0.5 tbsp vanilla essence
200g white chocolate (1 cup)
150g plain flour, sifted (1 + 1/2 cup)
pinch of salt

Heat the oven to 360 F (180 C). Line a baking dish (11in x 7in x 2.5 in) with parchment paper. Break the bittersweet and milk chocolate into pieces, and melt in the microwave with the butter. Let the mixture cool slightly.

Chop the white chocolate not too finely. Reserve.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk this mixture in the cooled chocolate/butter, then fold the flour, the salt, and finally the chunks of white chocolate.

Pour the mixture in the prepared baking dish, place in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is dry and cracked, and the center still moist when tested with a toothpick.

Remove from the oven, cool over a rack, and when the brownie is at room temperature, remove from the pan and cut in squares.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: If you are not too fond of white chocolate, MAKE THESE BROWNIES ANYWAY. They are amazing! We took them to the lab to celebrate one of our students passing his qualifying exam, and they disappeared in a few minutes! The crumbs left on the serving plate were fought over with considerable enthusiasm by two members of our group, normally quite well-mannered.

They are fudgy, dense, moist, sweet, decadent, with a nice crunchy surface that provides a perfect contrast with the creamy center. The white chocolate, kept in chunks, is a superb touch, don’t skip it. I didn’t add nuts (macadamia would be the number 1 choice), because one of our students is allergic to them.

I couldn’t be happier with this month’s adventure! Stop by “The More than Occasional Baker” to see all the goodies she makes on a regular basis. Maybe I should become a more regular baker myself 😉

Check out all other posts from bloggers in my group, by clicking on the blue frog at the very end of this post…

ONE YEAR AGO: Springtime Salad

TWO YEARS AGO: Indonesian Delight

27Feb2012

SECRET RECIPE ENCORE: CHICKPEA SALAD

Posted in Salads, Secret Recipe Club, Veggies by sallybr

When I was a child, becoming an orphan was my greatest fear, and I literally lost many nights of sleep worrying about it. So, when I learned that one member from the Secret Recipe Club was about to be an orphan this month (the person supposed to pick a recipe from the blog had a problem and could not complete the assignment in time) I decided to perform a virtual adoption… 😉 My “encore” post for this month’s reveal day comes from Without Adornment, and you can visit it clicking here. Bean, the hostess, has a site loaded with gluten-free recipes, and absolutely gorgeous photography. Due to the time constraints (I had less than 24 hours to pick a recipe, make it, and write about it), I had to go with a simple dish. But, it all ended perfectly for me: I had no idea what to eat for lunch after working out, and her chickpea salad came to the rescue. Delicious, refreshing, light, healthy, but also filling enough to carry me through a busy Sunday afternoon…
CHICKPEA SALAD
(adapted from Without Adornment)

1 can of chickpeas
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
Grape or Cherry tomatoes to taste
salt and pepper
grapeseed oil
lime juice
white balsamic vinegar

Boil 2 cups of water in a small sauce pan. Drain the chickpeas from the can, and drop them in the boiling water for 5-10 second. Quickly drain them and rinse with plenty of cold water. Reserve until cold.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients from chickpeas to tomatoes. Make a simple dressing with oil, a squeeze of lime juice, a little balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Drizzle over the salad and….

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

This salad gives me the chance to introduce you to a reasonably recent acquisition from the Bewitching Kitchen… a spiralizer! Or a spiral-cutter… or… whatever you want to call it…
I like raw carrots in salad, but prefer if they are cut paper-thin. This gadget gave me the exact texture I was hoping for. The very thin ribbons get perfectly seasoned and retain just a little crunch.

Chickpeas & boiling water: this is a tip I learned from Barbara Tropp, in her book Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking. She recommended to rinse all sorts of canned products in boiling water, to remove what she described as the “tin taste”. The improvement in flavor is quite noticeable. So I normally do it whenever I use chickpeas, beans, and water chestnuts.

Bean, it was fun to get to know your blog, I wish I’d had more time to devote to it, your Lemon Cupcakes seemed absolutely scrumptious! 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: A Soft Spot for Chevre

TWO YEARS AGO: Seared Tuna, My Own Private Idaho

28Nov2011

SECRET RECIPE CLUB: WILD MUSHROOM RISOTTO

Posted in Rice and Grains, Secret Recipe Club, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

My second “assignment” at the Secret Recipe Club was the blog “I am a Honey Bee”. I had a lot of fun browsing through its pages, starting on the “About Me” chapter with a list of 25 things about her. A few matched me so well I had to smile: “I hate the cold, REALLY hate the cold…” or “I went to Greece, fell in love with everything I saw, ate, smelled, touched…” …. and “I get frustrated too easily, I’m sorta working on that one” (good to know I’m not alone in this! 😉

Even though I spent quite a bit of time reading her blog, it took me about 35 seconds to choose her Wild Mushroom Risotto. It is the perfect time of the year for it, plus I had two special ingredients already at home: porcini mushrooms, and home made chicken stock. All I needed was to stop at the store for two more types of mushrooms (fresh shiitake and white), and I was ready to have some serious fun. On a small departure from her recipe, I used the pressure cooker to make it, and with this statement I just irritated all serious risotto enthusiasts, but trust me: it is a nice trick to have up your sleeve. Still, I’ll give you the two variations, as not everyone has a pressure cooker at home.

WILD MUSHROOM RISOTTO
(Traditional Method)
(adapted from “I am a Honey Bee“)

1 cup very hot water
1/4 ounce dried wild mushrooms, such as porcini
9 ounces assorted fresh mushrooms
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 cup Arborio or rice
8 sage leaves, finely julienned, divided
1/2 cup dry white wine
5 – 7 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
4 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup grated Parmegiano cheese, plus more for serving
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Soak the dried mushrooms in 1 cup of very hot water for 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms with a slotted spoon, chop them finely. Filter the water through a sieve to remove any grit, and add it to the chicken (or veggie) stock in a medium size pan, keep it at a simmer on very low heat.

Chop the fresh mushrooms. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until translucent. Add the mushrooms, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook until tender and all moisture has been absorbed. Add half the sage and the rice, cook stirring, until the grains are well coated, and start to get some color – 3 to 4 minutes.

Add wine. Cook, stirring, until wine is absorbed by rice. Using a ladle, add 3/4 cup hot stock to rice. Stir rice constantly, at a moderate speed. When rice has absorbed most but not all of liquid and mixture is just thick enough to leave a clear wake behind the spoon when stirring, add another 3/4 cup stock.

Continue adding stock and stirring constantly, until rice is mostly translucent but still opaque in center. Add the porcini mushrooms, and continue cooking until rice is al dente, but not crunchy. Remove from heat, stir butter, remaining sage leaves, and Parmigiano cheese. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, and serve, with additional shaved cheese on top, if so desired.

to print the recipe (traditional method), click here

WILD MUSHROOM RISOTTO
(Pressure Cooker)

1 cup very hot water
1/4 ounce dried wild mushrooms, such as porcini
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 cup shallots, diced
9 ounces assorted fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Arborio rice
8 fresh sage leaves, finely julienned, divided
3 + 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese

In a pressure cooker, heat 4 tbs Olive oil and 1 Tbs Butter. Add the shallots and saute until translucent and fragrant. Add the mushrooms, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook until they start to get soft.

Add half the sage and the rice, cook stirring until all grains are well coated with the oil/mushroom mixture (about 3 minutes). Pour all the hot stock and wine in the pan, close it, and bring to full pressure. Reduce the heat or use the specific instructions from your pan to keep the pressure constant for 7 minutes. Immediately take the pan to the sink, run some cold water over the lid to reduce the temperature, and when the pressure is down, open the pan. If there’s still too much liquid, cook gently, stirring until it reaches the consistency you like. Test the rice to make sure it’s cooked through, add the tablespoon of butter, the remaining sage leaves, and the Parmigiano cheese, adjust seasoning, and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the pressure cooker method recipe, click here

Comments: One of the reasons I like the pressure cooker method is the ability to know exactly when the recipe will be ready, as it makes entertaining a lot easier. I’ve made risotto using this basic method many times, and it never failed me. In seven minutes, the rice is perfectly cooked, and usually the amount of liquid remaining in the pan is very close to perfect. My main problem with risotto is taking the picture, I am a bit slow and the rice goes on absorbing the liquid. By the time I am satisfied with the photo, it’s a little passed its prime.. . 😉

This recipe is delicious, no matter the method you choose to make it. Porcini will always turn any meal into a festive occasion, and I think the sage goes well with it too.

Make sure you stop by “I am a Honey Bee” to check all her other recipes, and if you want to see all other posts in today’s reveal day follow the links by clicking in the icon below (the little blue toad).

ONE YEAR AGO: Tartine Bread: Basic Country Loaf

TWO YEARS AGO: Pumpkin Pie, Light as a Feather