Jason's Birthday Cake

Every year for Jason’s birthday I make him a tiramisu cake. Every.  Single.  Year. Don’t get me wrong, I love that cake—I made it a couple of different ways before finally settling on my favorite version. And back when I was cooking/baking new things on a regular basis, I had no problem making a tried and true favorite on an annual basis—especially since it was always what was requested. But now that my culinary adventures are fewer and farther between (and my free time is limited), I tend to want to try new and different things when it comes to special occasion treats. So this year, I convinced Jason to let me try something different for his birthday. Enter Ina Garten’s Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake. This is a recipe that I’ve been eyeing since receiving her cookbook How Easy Is that? as a gift way back in 2010 (what took me so long?!). It seemed like a good “replacement” for Jason’s usual tiramisu cake since it has a lot of the same flavors—chocolate and coffee—and the same type of decadent mascarpone/whipped cream/espresso frosting.  And true to the cookbook’s name, it was incredibly easy to make (only 30 minutes of actual prep time). Basically you layer chocolate chip cookies with the aforementioned mascarpone/whipped cream/espresso concoction and then let it sit overnight. The whipped cream mixture soaks into the cookies making them soft and cake like. It is an incredibly rich, creamy and delicious treat. And although it wasn’t THE tiramisu cake, I am pretty sure Jason enjoyed it this year.

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake
Adapted ever so slightly from Ina Garten

Note: I’m including the recipe below pretty much verbatim as the only change I made was to use semi-sweet chocolate chips as a garnish instead of chocolate shavings. And I did that only because I could not find a chocolate bar sizable enough for decent shavings at either of the two grocery stores I went to.

Ingredients:
2 cups cold heavy cream
12 oz mascarpone cheese
½ cup sugar
¼ coffee liqueur
2 TBL unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 Approximately 3 dozen thin and crisp chocolate chip cookies (Ina’s recipe suggests Tate’s Bake Shop cookies which can be ordered online—I was going to use a chocolate chip cookie I had seen at whole foods when I happened to see the actual Tate’s cookies at The Fresh Market the weekend before Jason’s birthday—so I did actually use the brand she recommended but any thin and crisp cookie should work).
Semi-sweet chocolate—in bar (from which to make shavings) or chip form

1. Combine the heavy cream, mascarpone, sugar, coffee liqueur, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and vanilla. Mix on low speed to combine and then slowly raise the speed, until it forms firm peaks.

2. To assemble the cake, arrange chocolate chip cookies flat in an 8-inch springform pan*, covering the bottom as much as possible. (Break some cookies to fill in the spaces.) Spread a fifth of the mocha whipped cream evenly over the cookies. Place another layer of cookies on top, lying flat and touching, followed by another fifth of the cream. Continue layering cookies and cream until there are 5 layers of each, ending with a layer of cream. Smooth the top, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. (*My springform pan is 9 inches—I got 4 layers instead of 5 out of the cookies with a little of the cream mixture left over.)

Run a small sharp knife around the outside of the cake and remove the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the top with the chocolate chips or shavings, cut in wedges, and serve cold.

I'm Back

Now that Christmas is long since past, I thought it was about time I got back to blogging. I'll be honest-- this Fall really kicked my butt; between long work hours, the holidays, and a general sense of fatigue I did not have much time for writing or cooking. But I'm going to try and be better in the new year and at least keep the five or so of you still reading this thing up to date on what's going on in our lives....with a few recipes here and there to boot.

So what have we been up to lately? Mostly catching up on rest and trying to get a few new things done around the house. Over the last couple of weeks we've tried to make our entryway more appealing (it's my least favorite space in the entire house) and have begun plans for completing our living room area on the main level. More details on both of those to come.

And with the three-day weekend, I actually spent some time in the kitchen-- something that is becoming more and more of a rarity these days. With the cold weather we've been having I decided to give my BFF's chicken pot pie recipe a try. While a bit time consuming, it was not terribly difficult-- especially given I decided to forego the homemade pie dough and opted instead for the pre-made refrigerated variety. My one quibble is the proportions-- the original recipe said it made 4 individual pot pies. I decided to halve it so that it would be just enough for Jason and me to eat for dinner last night. Uh....yeah. I don't know what size of individual pot pie Ina likes to serve, but the halved recipe seemed like plenty for four. It was so much that I had to skip the individual sizes and put it in an 8 inch square baking dish instead. And while still tasty, The crust to pie ratio wasn't quite the same. Oh well-- live and learn. Next time I will quarter the recipe :)

Chicken Pot Pie
Adapted from Ina Garten

Note: This recipe is half of the original; I would say it serves 4

Ingredients:
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
1 yellow onion, diced
6 TBL butter
1/4 cup plus 2 TBL flour
5 cups chicken stock
2 TBL heavy cream
1 cup baby carrots, sliced thinly
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen pearl onions
2 TBL minced parsley
1 piece of refrigerated pie dough (or you can make your own)
1 egg

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Place chicken breasts on foil lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 40 minutes or until cooked through. Set aside to cool. When they are cool enough to handle, shred or cube meat and set aside.

2. Heat chicken stock. Meanwhile, chop the yellow onion and carrots.

3. Turn oven up to 375. Heat butter in a large pot or dutch oven. Add chopped onion and cook until translucent, about 7-10 minutes. Add flour and stir constantly for about 2 minutes. Slowly add the warm chicken stock and simmer on low for about 1-2 minutes until thick. Add cream, salt and pepper.

4. Add chicken, carrots, peas, pearl onions and parsley. Turn off the heat. Spoon pot pie filling into either 4 individual ovenproof bowls or an 8 inch square casserole/baking dish.

5. Beat egg with 2 TBL water to make an egg wash. Brush sides of baking dish(es) with egg wash and top with pie dough (if using individual bowls, you'll want to cut the dough so there is about an inch hanging over the bowls). Press the dough around the edges of the baking dish(es) to seal. Brush the top of the pie with egg wash and cut 2-3 slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

6. Place dish(es) on a baking sheet and place into oven. Bake for about 45-60 minutes until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Let rest for 5-10 minutes and serve.

Sunday Dinner: Mussels Edition

I didn't eat a lot of shellfish growing up. Shrimp and the occasional lobster tail (I don't eat crab), but never clams or mussels. The couple of times I was exposed to these types of bivalves I found them chewy and not terribly appetizing so I decided that I did not like them. Then a few years ago I had moules frites (that's steamed mussels and french fries to the uninitiated) with friends and found myself liking them. But it wasn't until I tried the steamed mussels at The Liberty Tavern (which, you may recall, is one of my favorite Arlington restaurants) that I understood just how good mussels could be. Steamed in a broth made of smoked tomatoes, fennel pollen, and basil, these mussels are tender and smoky with a little heat that is impossible not to like. We pretty much have to order them whenever we go there.

Despite this growing affection for steamed mussels, I had never attempted to make them at home...until today. With the weather starting to get warmer, it just seemed like the right time to do it. I decided to start with a classic version--mussels cooked in a white wine broth, and who better to turn for a tried and true recipe than my BFF, the Barefoot Countessa.

Ina's recipe proved just how easy it is to make delicious steamed mussels at home. The result was an delicious and surprisingly elegant Sunday Dinner. The perfect way to mark the end of a hectic week.

Mussels with White Wine
Adapted slightly from Ina Garten

Ingredients:
2-3 lbs mussels
1/3 cup flour
2 TBL unsalted butter
2 TBL olive oil
5 shallots, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped canned plum tomatoes
1 TBL fresh thyme leaves
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup white wine
pinch of saffron
pinch of red pepper flakes (I'd probably add more next time-- you can too, if you like heat)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
Lots of crusty bread for serving

1. To clean the mussels, mix flour and 2 quarts of water together in a large bowl. Add mussels and soak for 30 minutes. Drain the mussels and remove the "beard' from each with your fingers. If they are dirty, scrub the mussels under running water. Be sure to discard any mussels whose shells aren't tightly shut.
2. While the mussels are soaking, chop the shallots, garlic, herbs, and tomatoes.
3. In a large stockpot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for 3-5 minutes until soft. Add garlic and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, saffron, parsley, red pepper, thyme, wine, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
4. Add the mussels and stir well. Cover and cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes until all the mussels are open. During the cooking process, give the pot (with the lid on) a shake every so often to make sure the mussels on the bottom of the pot don't burn. When done, pour the mussels and broth into a large bowl and serve with lots of crusty bread (to sop up the sauce). Be sure to discard any mussels that do not open.

Book Club Pound Cake

I didn't get very far in this month's book club selection-- it has not been a good month for non-work reading unfortunately. So I tried to make up for it by making my food contribution count. This month I volunteered for dessert and initially I wanted to make my BFF's Mocha Icebox Cake, but I nixed it because I wasn't sure how well it would travel (and driving from Arlington to Fairfax during rush hour can mean a lengthy car ride). If I wasn't going to be able to make that, I decided to avoid chocolate altogether since I thought many of the other book clubbers might be chocolated out from Valentine's Day. Instead I decided to go with something a little lighter--honey vanilla pound cake. OK, so pound cake may not exactly be light but this one has a light texture (thanks to the cake flour) and a light taste (thanks to the lemon and honey). My original plan was to make a raspberry sauce to serve with this little beauty--but I ran out of time. So I served with a few fresh raspberries instead. I thought it was pretty good...at first I tasted the lemon more than anything else (which was a bit disappointing) but then I realized that there was a creaminess (in taste if not texture) that the honey and vanilla really helped to impart. Either way, a solid pound cake for those who like that sort of thing.

Honey Vanilla Pound Cake
From Ina Garten

Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter, set out at room temperature for about an hour
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 TBL honey
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Powdered sugar and raspberries for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar on medium speed for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy.
3. Meanwhile put the eggs, vanilla, honey, and lemon zest into a glass bowl or measuring cup but do not combine. Beat in egg mixture, one eggg at a time. Make sure to incorporate each egg completely before adding in the next.
4. Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together and slowly add to the egg and butter mixture until just incorporated. Finish stirring with rubber spatula.
5. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Smooth top. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes then turn out onto a cool rack and cool completely. Slice and dust with powdered sugar and fresh raspberries. Serve.

Full Disclosure

A friend asked me this week whether I ever come home from a long day of work and decided to order pizza.  Apparently my blog has given the (completely false) impression that I cook dinner every night. The truth is I would like to cook dinner every night but I don’t. The weekends are usually the designated for eating out but even during the week there are times when I am too busy or too tired to cook much of anything.  On those nights we 1) order pizza, 2) assemble dinner (salads are a good example of these non-cooking meals), or 3) have breakfast for dinner (which Jason usually makes).

Take this week, for example:

Monday: We made homemade pizza (because it was a holiday and neither of us had to work)

Tuesday: a quick and easy salad with rolls
Wednesday: book club (Jason went out for dinner and I made a super easy appetizer—see recipe below)
Thursday: cereal (because I had to go Baltimore for the day and got home late and Jason had a networking thing after work)
Friday: Pancakes (courtesy of Jason because it was too cold to go anywhere)

So there you go…full disclosure :)

The one real thing I cooked this week was an easy appetizer of puffy pastry with soppresata and Gruyere from my BFF’s new cookbook How Easy Is That? The answer to that question is incredibly so.

Puff Pastry with Soppresata and Gruyere
From Ina Garten

Ingredients:
1 package of frozen puff pastry, defrosted overnight in the fridge
2 TBL Dijon mustard
12 slices of soppressata salami
4 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 egg

1.Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Place on sheet of puff pastry onto parchment lined sheet pan. Lightly roll pastry until it is a 10 inch square.
2.Spread Dijon mustard over puff pastry leaving a 1 inch border. Layer soppressata over the mustard and then top with shredded Gruyere cheese.
3.Beat egg with one TBL of water to create an egg wash. Brush the one inch border of the puff pastry with egg wash.
4.Roll the other sheet of pastry into a 10 inch square. Lay it directly on top of the first square, lining up the edges. Brush the top with the egg wash and cut three large slits for steam to escape. Chill for 15 minutes.
5.Trim the edges of the pastry with a sharp knife (or pizza cutter). Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes until puffed and brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes, cut into square, and serve.

Sunday Dinner: Spaghetti and Meatballs Edition

We did a lot of eating out last week. We used a Groupon for Hook that was about to expire one night, met a friend for dinner another, and then celebrated NYE with a fancy dinner out. I tried to counterbalance all the expenditures by cooking a lot at home this weekend. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast, chili and cornbread for dinner last night, and spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight.

I don't know about you, but I did not grow up eating too many meatballs with my spaghetti. We tended to go with a meat sauce instead, but whenever I see someone make meatballs on TV I am intrigued. So when I saw that my BFF Ina had a recipe for spaghetti and turkey meatballs in her new cookbook How Easy Is That (a SIGNED copy of which I got for Christmas-- thanks Mom!), I decided to give it a try. Ina's recipe further sold me on the idea for a couple of reasons-- 1) the meat in the meatballs include not only turkey but sweet Italian sausage and proscuitto as well which sounded like a great combination and 2) you bake the meatballs instead of pan-frying them which seemed less time consuming and less messy. Done and done.

Overall we liked the recipe quite a bit. It was easy and really flavorful. My one gripe is that it makes A TON. Even with halving the recipe, we ended up with 18 good size meatballs! Fortunately Jason is already plotting how he can turn some of the leftovers into meatball subs later in the week.

Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs
Adapted slightly (primarily to halve the recipe) from Ina Garten

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups bread cubes (about 2 slices of bread, crusts removed)
1/3 cup milk
1 lb ground turkey (92% lean)
2 sweet Italian pork sausages, casings removed
2 thin slices of prosciutto, finely chopped
1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese
1/4 cup minced parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
3 TBL olive oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-2 large jars of your favorite marinara sauce (depending on how much sauce you like-- we used two and it was a lot)
1 1b spaghetti (I acutally only made half this amount but will need to make more for the leftover meatballs)

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper (do not skip this-- you'll thank me at clean up time!)
2. Place the bread in a food processor and pulse until you have medium crumbs. Transfer to a small bowl and add milk. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine turkey, sausage, proscuitto, bread mixture, Asiago, parsley, oregano, red pepper flakes, 1 TBL salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Combine with your hands. Mix 1 1/2 TBL olive oil and egg together and add to the mixture. Stir with a fork.
4. Use your hands to lightly roll mixture into 2inch (golf ball size) balls. Place onto sheet pan and brush the top of each with olive oil. Bake for 35-40 minutes until tops are browned and inside is cooked through.
5. Pour marinar into a large low pan. Add meatballs and bring to a simmer.
6. Meanwhile bring a pot of water to boil and cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and plate. Top each plate of spaghetti with 3 meatballs and as much or as little sauce as you like. Serve with grated cheese if desired.

Thanksgiving Recipe Recap, Part 1

Thanksgiving….my favorite holiday of the year….has come and gone. All in all it was a good one. I woke up on the earlyish side (thanks to the fact that I forgot to turn my weekday work alarm off…oops) and spent the morning finishing my contributions to the Thanksgiving feast, watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (the official start of the holiday season!), and prepping our annual pre-Thanksgiving lunch of quiche and ham rolls.

If you remember, I had promised to make three items for Thanksgiving at Jason’s house: cranberry chutney, spinach gratin, and pumpkin crème brulee. I had taken care of the cranberry chutney and pumpkin crème brulee on Wednesday night (more to come on those) but waited until Thursday morning to do the spinach gratin—primarily because I didn’t have a whole lot of fridge space left at that point and also because I wasn’t 100% sure how it would hold up pre-cooked overnight (in retrospect, it probably would have been fine). I chose spinach gratin as a side dish for a couple of reasons—1) I thought that we probably needed another green vegetable to go with all the starches I knew my mother-in-law would be making (stuffing, mashed potatoes and bread) which was good since she also ended up making sweet potato casserole (one of my family’s favorites) as well and 2) Jason has a vast love of creamed spinach and as soon as I told him that one of the recipes I was considering for Thanksgiving was essentially creamed spinach topped with cheese and baked in casserole form, he was sold.

The spinach gratin recipe I chose, from Ina Garten aka the Barefoot Contessa (who else?!), was ridiculously easy. Usually when I make creamed spinach I opt for fresh spinach, but fortunately this recipe called for frozen chopped spinach (otherwise I would have spent half the morning wilting pounds and pounds of spinach to get the amount needed to feed 8 people).  Actually, the hardest thing about this recipe was getting all the extra liquid out of the five packages of thawed spinach that was called for (my secret—squeezing each package through several layers of paper towels and then putting it all in a colander and squeezing anything else that remained with the back of a large spoon).  Once the spinach was fairly dry it was as simple as sautéing onions, making a roux, and cooking milk and cream until it thickened. Fold in the spinach and some cheese and all you need to do is stick it in the oven when the time comes.

If you like creamed spinach, you will love this recipe. I would go so far as to say it is as good any creamed spinach side you will find in the fanciest of steakhouses (which may be why I decided we needed go to Whole Foods and get a steak to cook for dinner tonight to eat with our leftovers!) It is a wonderful addition to any holiday table.

Spinach Gratin
Adapted slightly from Ina Garten

Ingredients:
4 TBL butter
2 large yellow onions, chopped
¼ cup flour
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
1-2 cups milk*
5 (10-ounce) packages of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup grated Gruyere cheese
Salt and pepper


*the original recipe called for 2 cups of milk but since I was using skim, I ended up using less—probably closer to 1 ½ cup—since I know from previous experience that skim milk can wreck havoc when you are trying to make white sauce using an Ina Garten recipe

 1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees (if you are planning to cook right away). Squeeze as much liquid from the spinach as possible and set aside.
2.Melt better in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add flour and nutmeg and cook, stirring almost constantly, for 2 minutes.
3.Add cream and milk and cook until thickened. Stir in spinach. Add ¼ cup of the Parmesan cheese and mix well. Remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4.Spoon mixture into a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan and Gruyere cheese on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly (about 30 minutes if you are baking it straight from the refrigerator). Serve.

A Case of the Mondays

Oh Mondays. How I loathe thee….

Between not getting much sleep last night (thanks to my ill advised decision to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before bed last night), waking up early for my longer than usual commute, and the commute itself, I am tired. And Friday seems so far away. Part of me wanted to ask Jason to pick something up for dinner on his way home from work so I could totally veg out tonight but I decided that was too much of a cop out, especially considering I planned and purchased a week’s worth of meals/food yesterday and don’t want any of it to go to waste.  Instead, I put on my big girl pants and made a lovely Lemon Fussilli with Arugula from my girl Ina Garten’s book Barefoot Contessa At Home (which is, by the way, my favorite of her cookbooks to date).

It is exceptionally good and very easy to whip up…even when you are *this close* to being a walking zombie. I found myself wondering why I don’t make this more often…..until I remembered that the recipe calls for 2 cups of heavy cream. TWO CUPS!

Warning: this is not a healthy recipe. Don’t let the tomatoes and arugula fool you.

I halved the sauce in order to try and dial back the fat a little bit and I think it was just as good as the original. A lemony, garlicky cream sauce over pasta with tomatoes and arugula that are just warmed through at the end.  It is comfort food at its best--the perfect cure for a case of the Mondays.

(Note: if you have leftovers, I would recommend re-warming them slowly in a saucepan on the stove or in short bursts in the microwave. The sauce has a tendency to separate and while it still tastes good, it doesn’t look as appetizing.)

Lemon Fusilli with Arugula
Adapted, a little bit, from Ina Garten

Ingredients:
1 TBL olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lemon
1 cup of heavy cream
8 ounces fussilli
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
A couple of handfuls of baby arugula
¼ cup (or less) parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper

1.Heat olive oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for about 60 seconds. Add cream and both the zest and juice from the lemon. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat. Simmer sauce until it just starts to thicken, about 15 minutes.
2.Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add fussilli and cook according to package directions. Drain and return to the pot. Pour thickened sauce over the pasta and cook for 2-3 minutes until the pasta has had a chance to absorb most of the sauce.
3.Take off the heat. Add parmesan cheese, arugula, and tomatoes and stir until combined and arugula has started to wilt slightly. Serve.

How Bad Could That Be?!

By now you know that my love for Ina Garten (aka The Barefoot Contessa) is rivaled only by my affection for Smitten Kitchen. So when I saw SK had taken Ina’s recipe for Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons for a spin, I knew I had to give it a go myself.  Basically it’s a warm panzanella salad—bread, loads of fresh tomatoes, garlic, and basil. A very seasonal dish, indeed. I decided to add some spinach to the mix to add a little more green to otherwise carb-heavy dish.

While the recipe isn’t difficult to prepare it does take a little more time than some of my other weeknight dinners. Fortunately, the timing worked out well tonight since Jason had to work a little late. In the end, I really liked it….as a side dish. I think for it to be really satisfying entrée, I’d add some other veggie (zucchini or eggplant) or top with a poached egg (per SK’s suggestion). But I would definitely encourage you all give it a try. Bread, tomatoes, basil, and garlic…in the words of Ina “how bad could that be”?!

Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons and Spinach
Adapted slightly from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
3 TBL olive oil
2-3 cups of bread cubes, SK recommends a French boule; I used a rosemary olive oil loaf—you just want to look for a chewy, artisanal type of bread that will stand up to the juicy tomatoes.
2 lbs of tomatoes (I used roma), diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBL sugar
2 teaspoons Kosher salt (less if you use table salt)
1 teaspoon ground pepper
3/4 of bag of baby spinach
½ cup thinly sliced basil leaves
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.Preheat the oven to 350. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add bread cubes and stir so they are all coated with oil. Cook, tossing frequently, until toasty on all sides, about 5 minutes.
2.Combine tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper, and spinach in a large bowl. When bread is toasted add mixture to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes more.  Remove from heat and stir in basil. Pour into a shallow (6-8 cup) baking dish and sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese. Bake 35-40 minutes until the top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly. Serve hot or warm. I served mixed greens alongside with it.

A Kitchen Clambake (minus the clams)

By now y’all know me well enough to know just how much I love Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa).  I love her. I love her recipes. I love her house. And I secretly wish I could quit my day job (which I do actually enjoy) and become a self-taught cook/entrepreneur/store owner just like her.  While this is an unlikely scenario, I can learn to entertain like her. If you are familiar with her show, she almost always cooks some elegant yet homey meal for friends or her husband, Jeffrey. (Side note: there is something about Jeffrey that reminds me of Jason…maybe it’s because he is always so happy to eat Ina’s food and he always acts like whatever she makes on that particular day is THE BEST THING HE’S EVER EATEN and Jason does that with pretty much everything I make too.) On one particular show, she made a Kitchen Clambake where she filled a huge stockpot full of all kinds of seafood (mussels, shrimp, lobster, etc.), corn on the cob, potatoes and steamed it in white wine and stock. And she served it with crusty bread (to sop up the sauce) on a long table covered in newspaper. It looked awesome.  I’ve been waiting since the day I first saw that episode (probably several years ago now) to make that meal and serve it a large group of close friends.

Tonight… was not that night. (Sorry, if I got your hopes up there for a second.)

Instead I made a scaled down version of the kitchen clambake courtesy of Everyday Food. In this version, you make individual foil packets and fill them with fish, shrimp, sliced new potatoes, and corn on the cob, and cook it on the grill (or in our case in the oven) with a composite butter of dill and garlic. It wasn’t the showstopper of my dreams, but served with some lemon and dill asparagus, it was a nice weeknight meal for two. And as predicted, Jason thought it was one of the best meals I’ve ever made. Who needs more than that?!

New England Seafood Bake
Adapted from Everyday Food

Ingredients:
2 TBL butter, room temperature
2 TBL finely chopped fresh dill, plus more for the asparagus if you decide to make that as a side
1 small garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper
2-3 red new potatoes (depending on size), scrubbed and thinly sliced
1 tilapia fillet, cut into two equal pieces
¼ lb of frozen uncooked shrimp, thawed
1 ear of corn, cut in half
½ lemon, thinly sliced (reserve the other half for the asparagus if you are making)
White wine (optional)

1.Preheat oven to 425. In a small bowl, combine butter, dill and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
2.Tear off two large pieces of aluminum foil. Divide ingredients evenly between the two pieces of foil and assemble packets. Start by arranging potatoes in a single layer on one-half of the foil. Top with tilapia, then shrimp. Place ½ corn on one side. Season with salt and pepper. Add a dollop or two of the butter and top with two lemon slices. Splash the top with a tablespoon or so of white wine if using. Fold foil over ingredients and crimp edges tightly to seal. Place on baking pan.
3.Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or so until potatoes are tender (note: I found the potatoes to still be a little al dente for my taste—next time I might consider par-boiling the potatoes or even sticking the slices in the microwave to give them a heads start on the rest of the ingredients which don’t require as much time to cook through).  Remove from oven, slit packets open and serve. If desired, serve was roasted asparagus with lemon and dill (see below).

To make asparagus—trim woody ends of asparagus. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet. Cook at 425 alongside the seafood packets. Squeeze half a lemon, top with reserved dill and serve.

I would be remiss if I discussed the joys of cooking with seafood and did not say something about the oil spill along the Gulf Coast that is threatening our nation’s food supply as well as the livelihood of American fisherman for years (and maybe even decades) to come (not to mention the environmental ramifications). The New York Times had a sobering article about the impact this will have not only on those living and working on the Gulf Coast but for those of us who enjoy the fruits of their labor on a regular basis.  Definitely worth a look if you have a free minute.

A Taste of Summer (What Happened to Spring?)

As I write this, the temperature outside is 87 degrees. I had a meeting in DC today and was pretty much covered in sweat by the time I got off the crowded rush hour metro. It’s so hot, I broke down and turned on the AC (which I usually try to avoid doing for as long as possible). Which begs the question….what happened to spring?!  I hope it makes a comeback soon because I am not ready for summer quite yet.

Good thing I was planning to make Barefoot Contessa’s Roasted Shrimp and Orzo Salad for dinner tonight. Full of fresh herbs (dill!), veggies (scallions, red onion, and cucumbers…oh my!), shrimp, and topped with a lemon vinaigrette, it is the ideal warm weather meal. It just tastes like summer…seriously!

It’s easy to make too—in the time it takes to cook the orzo you can pretty much have everything else ready to go. The key to the dish, though, is to make it at least an hour or so ahead of time so all the flavors have a chance to mingle and meld. I actually made this during my lunch hour (a definite benefit of working from home) so there was plenty of time for everything to come together. (It also makes for delicious leftovers which is good for Jason since I’m heading off tomorrow for yet another business trip.)

Mmm summer on a plate…even if it is two months too soon!

Roasted Shrimp and Orzo Salad
Adapted slightly from Ina Garten

Ingredients:
½ pound orzo
¼ cup lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
¼ cup plus 1 TBL olive oil
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 bunch scallions, minced (white and green parts)
1 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
½ cucumber, seeded and diced
½ cup red onion, diced
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1.Bring large pot of water to a boil. Add orzo and cook according to package directions (usually about 9-10 minutes) until done.  While pasta cooks, whisk together lemon juice, ¼ cup olive oil, salt and pepper.
2.Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking pan with aluminum foil. Place shrimp on pan, drizzle with 1 TBL olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread out in a single layer. Roast for about 6 minutes until shrimp are cooked through.
3.When pasta is done, drain and pour into a large bowl. Pour vinaigrette over hot pasta and stir well.
4.Add shrimp to the orzo and then add scallions, dill, parsley, cucumber, onion, and salt/pepper to taste. Toss well. Add feta and stir carefully.
5.Set aside at room temperature for at least 1 hour (more if you can do it!) or you can also refrigerate overnight. If refrigerated, bring back to room temperature before serving.

Lazy Sunday

Hectic work week + rainy weather = much needed low key weekend.

Jason and I have spent the last couple of days taking it easy and it has been really nice. I think we made it out of the apartment for all of an hour yesterday. We did a little better today—managing to squeeze in brunch with some friends and a trip to the grocery store (which was surprisingly empty for a Sunday—thank you Daylight Savings!) before coming home and relaxing. I capped the day with a Lost marathon while Jason spent some quality time in his green chair with a book.

I decided to go with the lazy Sunday flow and ease back into the kitchen with a fairly simple dinner—goat cheese chicken and cauliflower puree.  Goat cheese chicken was one of the first things I ever made for Jason when we were dating and it remains a household favorite. It couldn’t be easier—slip a little goat cheese and basil underneath the skin of some chicken and roast until done. The hardest part is actually finding skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts! Since I didn’t feel like going to multiple stores today to try and find them, we ended up with chicken thighs instead and they worked just fine.  It paired really well with the cauliflower puree—a light yet satisfying meal to close out the weekend.

Getting ready to go into the oven

 

 Cauliflower, onion and garlic

 

Mixture pre-boil

Goat Cheese Chicken
Just barely adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients:
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or thighs
1 4oz cylinder package of goat cheese, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
Fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

1.Preheat the oven to 375. Place chicken pieces on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper (for easy clean up). Loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers.
2.Place 1 or 2 slices of goat cheese along with a large basil leaf (or two depending on the size) underneath the skin of each chicken breast/thigh.
3.Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4.Bake chicken for 35-40 minutes (maybe less depending on size of chicken pieces you are working with) until the skin is slightly browned and chicken is cooked through.

Cauliflower Puree
Again, just barely adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients:
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 TBL olive oil
½ of medium cauliflower, cut into pieces
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 cups of milk
2 TBL butter
Salt and pepper to taste

1.Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add cauliflower, garlic and milk. Season with salt and pepper
2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer (covered) until the cauliflower is tender (about 12-15 minutes). Be careful to reduce the heat to low otherwise the mixture might boil over!
3.Drain, reserving the liquid.
4.In a food processor or blender puree the cauliflower mixture with butter and about ¼ cup of the cooking liquid (you can use more or less depending on how thick you want the puree to be). Adjust seasoning before serving. (Note: I would not recommend using an immersion blender for this. I tried it, thinking it would be easier than digging out the food processor but given the small amount of liquid it was difficult to get completely smooth. Next time I’ll definitely take the extra time and use one of the other options I suggested.)

Sunday Dinner (aka Jason's Favorite Cream of Mushroom Soup)

As the resident cook in the family, I make dinners most nights. I say most nights because Jason and I have a deal where I cook 4-5 nights a week (usually Sunday-Thursday) and we go out to eat the other two nights (usually Friday and Saturday)... because even someone who likes to cook as much as I do needs a break! During the week, I try to stick to relatively simple meals (e.g., those that are not too time consuming or that require a hundred different ingredients) since, no commute aside, I do work a 40+ hour week too.  This means that Sundays usually are my days to try out more complicated recipes or things that just require more time to prepare.

Ina Garten’s cream of wild mushroom soup is a prime example of a Sunday meal around here and it just so happens to be one of Jason’s all time favorites. I decided to make it today since he spent a good portion of the day working on our taxes (he is the finance whiz in the family).  You start out by making a mushroom stock that is used in making the actual soup (hence why it is a bit more time consuming than my average weekday meals).

Then you sauté some leeks and a whole lot of mushrooms, add some white wine, and simmer with the stock for a bit. Stir in some half-and-half and heavy cream and you’ve got yourself some soup! Yum.

The key to making the most flavorful soup is the stock and I have identified a pretty good way to ensure maximum flavor---adding a little Better than Bouillon once the stock has come to a boil. I found this out by accident, actually. The first time I made the soup, I found it a little bland (to my dismay) although Jason loved it. I chalked it up to not having seasoned it properly and vowed to try again. The next time I realized that I had discarded the mushroom stems too soon and was not going to be able to use them for the stock. After a moment of panic, I realized that I had some Mushroom Better than Bouillon in the fridge (leftover from another recipe) and threw some in. The resulting stock (and therefore soup) was far more flavorful and delicious than before.

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup
Adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients:
15 ounces of mushrooms (this time I used maitake, portabella, and cremini but you can use any kind as long as they are not white/button mushrooms)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 stick plus 1 Tablespoon butter
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon of dried thyme, herbs de provence, or something similar
1-2 Tablespoons Mushroom Better than Bouillon (depending on how mushroom-y you like things)
2 chopped leeks (white and light green parts)
¼ cup flour
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup half and half (all the grocery store had today was fat free so I used it and it worked just fine)
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and Pepper

1.  Make the stock: Separate the mushroom caps from the stems and coarsely chop them. Set aside. Slice the mushroom caps into bite size pieces. Heat the olive oil and 1 Tbl of the butter in a large pot. Add mushroom stems, onion, carrot, and ¼ tsp of the dried herbs, salt and pepper. Cook over medium-low heat from 10-15 minutes until everything is soft. Add 6 cups of water, bring to a boil, and add the Better than Bouillon. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid.
2. After the stock has simmered for 10 minutes or so, heat the remaining butter in a large pot and add the leeks. Cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes until the leeks begin to brown. Add the mushroom caps and cook for 10 minutes or until browned and tender.
3. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and stir for another minute, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the mushroom stock, remaining dried herbs, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Add the half-and-half and cream, heat through but do not boil. Check for seasoning and serve.

Tonight I served the soup with some yeast rolls that I “made” from frozen dough.

You just let the dough rise (in a warm oven) for an hour and then bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

They are so good. Sometimes I brush a little melted butter and add some herbs to the top before baking. Awesome!

Confession: Book Club Edition

I’ve been part of a book club for almost 3 years now (no, that’s not the confession…I’ll get to that in a minute).  I realize that being in a book club sounds a wee bit middle-aged….but it is actually really fun. We meet once a month at someone’s house (we take turns hosting) and whoever hosts makes the entrée with the other members bringing appetizers, sides, and desserts. We hang out, drink wine, catch up/gossip, and yes, discuss the book selection for that month.

Book club meets tonight.

My confession is this….. I didn’t read this month’s book.

I didn’t even buy it. I am a bad book clubber.

Now, I don’t usually do this. But I was really busy this month and time just slipped me by. By the time I remembered, I knew it was no use (and to be honest, I wasn’t feeling the selection anyway….)

But I did a bake a (hopefully) yummy treat to contribute to the book club feast….a variation of Ina Garten’s Lemon Yogurt Cake (by way of one of my favorite food bloggers—smitten kitchen).

Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa, is one of my personal heroes. She is smart (she was at one point a nuclear energy analyst for the White House Office of Management and Budget!), seemingly down to earth, and an awesome home cook (e.g., not a trained chef). I am obsessed with her show on Food Network and have THREE of her cookbooks (one of which my wonderful mother got signed for me when she was on a book tour a few years ago). Her recipes almost always turn out amazingly. I want her to take me under her wing and teach me everything she knows. Love. Her. (Plus her house is swwweeeeetttt!)

I decided to go with smitten kitchen’s variation because I love the blueberry-lemon combination. You can find the details of how to make it here.  I ended up using greek style yogurt instead of the regular variety because the grocery store was out of the latter when I went to get the supplies yesterday. Hopefully this does not adversely affect the moistness of the cake..…I’ll let you know.

Update: The cake was a hit at book club. Everyone commented on the "light and moist"-ness of the cake. I do think it was probably a tad bit dryer than if I had been able to use the regular yogurt so next time I will definitely try to go that route. I think next time I might also make more of  a glaze for the top per Ina's original recipe (rather than the lemon syrup that smitten kitchen used). All in all, I'd recommend!