The Joy of the Joy of Cooking

I'm still around!

2011-12-08T22:40:00.001-07:00

Don't worry, fans! I am still around! I have so many posts in the hopper you will all be amazed--I've had two HUGE cooking extravaganzas in the meantime.

I've been desperately trying to finish my dissertation, wish me luck!

Asparagus I (p. 249)

2011-09-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

I make asparagus all the time because both Josh and I love it. Even so, I haven't made most of the TJOC asparagus recipes (I usually just steam it). I decided to go ahead and make Asparagus I (p. 249).

I steamed the asparagus, like I normally do:

I always just snap off the ends. Josh always snaps off far more than I do (and my mom seems to throw away most of the asparagus!)--where do you guys consider the ends? Do you cut or snap?

I melted butter in a saucepan and added breadcrumbs. I cooked it for about a minute:

I sprinkled the breadcrumbs over the asparagus:

Believe it or not I loved it! The breadcrumbs were delicious on the asparagus! This is definately an extremely easy way to improve an already delicious veggie. The breadcrumbs were pretty much delicious on everything they were sprinkled on.

Story time! Growing up I absolutely hated asparagus. HATED it. This was very unfortuante for my mother because asparagus was her favorite vegetable but I would not eat it. Somehow in the following years my tastes must have changed because when I tried it again at about 21 or so, I love it, and have loved it ever since. Have you ever had a food that you hated as a child but love as an adult?

Chicken breasts baked on a bed of mushrooms (p. 425)

2011-09-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

Some of you are probably wondering why I was at my mother's house for so long (although you are far too polite to ask). I went home to Iowa for a few days to have a simple mechanical error looked at by a trusted mechanic, had my car dramatically break down, and spent well over a month trying to get it figured out. It was terribly stressful because I kept thinking I was going to leave within a week and then something else would go wrong on my car. It's one of the joys of owning an aging car. I also happened to have the puppy with me. You wouldn't think that a small dog like Lestat (who weighs less than 10 pounds) could bring down a screen door but you would be wrong. He's like a little whirling dervish of destruction. I think my mom was glad to see him go.

On the bright side, I was able to cook a whole bunch of things that Josh was not interested in eating or that I suspected I wouldn't like, which is why a lot of chicken recipes and bell pepper recipes have been cooked.

Chicken breasts baked on a bed of mushrooms (p. 425) doesn't fit in either of those categories but mom happened to have chicken. It looked easy but I haven't had great luck with TJOC's chicken recipes.

I cut up cremini and button mushrooms and spread them out on the bottom of a roasting pan. I added white wine, minced garlic, and salt and pepper to the pan:

I placed the chicken breasts (which had been seasoned with salt, pepper, and thyme) on top of the mushrooms:

And it was cooked for about twenty minutes:

I removed the chicken and poured the pan juices in to a pot, along with chicken stock and heavy cream, and boiled the sauce until there was only about one cup of juice. It went from this:

To this:

I should have taken a final picture of the whole dish. You will have to use your imagination.

I wasn't in love with this recipe. It was okay. The sauce was tasty but could have used a little more kick (more garlic, more pepper, a little cayenne, something more). The whole thing was a little boring. I think it would have been slightly better if it had been baked in a really tiny pan so the mushrooms could be infused with chicken-y flavor but the pan I used was actually quite small. I would recommend this recipe to people who don't like heavily seasoned food.

Bacon cornmeal waffles (p. 647)

2011-08-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

Bacon cornmeal waffles (p. 647). Mmmmm....even the name sounds delicious.

This recipe is essentially the same as the basic cornmeal waffle recipe but includes everyone's favorite meat product, BACON.

I'm not going to go into much detail in this post because it's already been covered in the previous post on cornmeal waffles.

I mixed buttermilk, butter, maple syrup, and egg yolks together in one bowl, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in another bowl, and I combined them (Don't overmix! Overmixing is your enemy!).

I whipped egg whites and folded them into the batter:

TJOC give a couple of options for how to incorporate the bacon. You can either place the bacon on top of the batter:

Or crumble it and mix it INTO the batter:

I do realize that not everyone can have a waffle iron as amazing as the one I got for my mother at a garage sale:

But hopefully you have a waffle iron that works just as well.

The waffles were good but they weren't as amazing as I wanted them to be. Granted, I wanted fireworks to explode, dogs to howl, and random strangers to break in to dance, so maybe my expectations should have been lower. Make sure to crisp your bacon as much as possible because floppy bacon is your enemy in this recipe. I thought the waffles with the bacon incorporated were better than the ones with the bacon just sitting on the top of the waffle.

There is something extra delicious about cornmeal waffles. Or maybe there is something extra delicious about cornmeal in general. These waffles are sweet enough that they don't need added maple syrup (which I don't like anyway) but not so sweet that they taste like a dessert. And they are certainly easy to make.

So, dearest readers, I have two questions for you:
1. Waffles or pancakes? Which do you prefer? There is an active debate going on the TJOTJOC Facebook page.

2. What is your favorite waffle topping? I just like butter on mine.

Tomato and mozzarella salad (insalata Caprese) (p. 169) and Baked fish fillets in white wine (p. 397)

2011-08-22T23:07:00.000-07:00

Both of my parents are huge proponents of Tomato and mozzarella salad (insalata Caprese) (p. 169). When my father and I went to Rome in 2003 he ordered Caprese at every restaurant we ate at (I ordered tiramisu everywhere, so it was really only the middle of the meal that differed). I consider myself well-versed in Caprese salad because it's a simple way to use tomatoes if you have an over-producing garden.

So when I noticed that my mother not only had a ball of mozzarella in the fridge but also a few nice tomatoes and some garden basil I know it would be the perfect dish to make.

I arranged slices of tomato and mozzarella on a plate. I sprinkled it with basil and drizzled olive oil over the top and it was finished:

It was every bit as simple and delicious as I expected it to be. The creaminess of the cheese, the tang of the tomato, and the spicy basil complemented each other perfectly. Caprese salad is summer on a plate.

Mom had defrosted fish so I decided to make Baked fish fillets in white wine (p. 397). I'll confess that I don't particularly like wine so I wasn't very excited about this recipe.

I took my fish fillets, laid them in a greased baking dish, and poured white wine over the top.

That's it.

Really.

That's the whole recipe.

I put the fish into the oven for a half hour, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and it was done:

Bland and boring (although very easy). The fish picked up strange floral notes from the wine, which I didn't like, and needed a lot more flavor. It wasn't bad enough not to eat but it certainly wasn't something I would make again.

Random trivia:

Insalata Caprese is traditionally made with buffalo mozzarella, which is made from the milk of the water buffalo (Wikipedia)
Caprese refers to the island of Capri, a place I really, really want to visit.

Barbecued spareribs II (p. 505)

2011-08-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

Assuming you are reading this before September 9th, be sure to vote for TJOTJOC as Denver's Most Valuable Blog! You can vote daily!

Ribs are so much cheaper in Iowa than they are in Colorado. Incredibly cheaper. I stumbled upon spareribs for $1.99 a pound! So cheap. I thought they would be perfect for Barbecued spareribs II (p. 505).

The ribs were St. Louis-style spareribs, which means that the "rib tips" have been removed. You can always tell the difference between sparerib types because SLS spareribs always look squared off. Back ribs (or baby back ribs) are from the more dorsal part of the animal, closer to the spine, while the spareribs are from further down, closer to the belly. (And there in your meat science education for the day)

I rubbed the ribs with southern barbecue dry rub and refridgerated them for a few hours:

They went into a roasting pan:

I popped the ribs in the oven for about 35 minutes (less than TJOC asks for), flipped them, and baked them for another 40 minutes:

These ribs were DELICIOUS. They were fork tender, flavorful, and amazing. In the past, I never really understood eating ribs that were "dry" (cooked with just a rub) rather than "wet" (cooked with barbecue sauce) but these were absolutely amazing. In fact, they were so good that we ran right back out and got another rack of them for a future meal.

So what are your favorite type of ribs? Pork or beef? Spareribs or back ribs? Do you like rib tips or consider that a marketing ploy? Inquiring minds want to know!

Denver's Most Valuable Blogger Nomination!

2011-08-18T06:59:00.001-07:00

Dearest readers,
Big news! I have been nominated as "Denver's Most Valuable Blogger"! It's incredibly exciting! I really want to win. Please vote for me! It's a daily vote and I will love you forever if you vote every day (or, frankly, at all). And feel free, nay, feel encouraged, to forward this link to everyone you know!

http://denver.blogger.cbslocal.com/most-valuable-blogger/blog/1383-the-joy-of-the-joy-of-cooking/

I will reward you all by posting at least one new post every other day. I like to think that is a reward.

And follow/contact me on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tjotjoc
Twitter: @tjotjoc
Email: tjotjoc@gmail.com

Spanish omelet (p. 201) and French omelet (rolled or folded) (p. 200)

2011-08-16T19:34:00.001-07:00

When I'm at my mom's house I always try to make at least one recipe that I know mom would like but that Josh or I wouldn't like. Spanish omelet (p. 201) was definitely a recipe on that list because I don't like one of the main ingredients (bell peppers).

I sliced potatoes (straight out of my dad's garden) as thinly as I could manage. I submerged them in a half cup of olive oil (a HALF CUP? Is TJOC kidding?) and cooked them for about 20 minutes:

At the same time, I cooked onion and bell pepper (yellow and red, we didn't have green) in a little bit of olive oil for 5 minutes:

I then added garlic, tomato, and salt and pepper:

The whole thing was cooked for another 15 minutes. I added the potatoes:

It smelled amazing at this point--and I don't even like peppers! So it was on to the French omelet (rolled or folded) (p. 200). I melted butter in a pan. In a bowl, I beat eggs, salt, and pepper together until it was a uniform color. I poured the egg mixture into the hot pan:

This was all so stressful it was almost impossible to take pictures. I had to continuously shake the pan while swirling a fork around the eggs so it could cook through (you don't flip it). I then put the filling in the omelet, tilted the pan, folded one end over, and then tilted the pan more, and folded the omelet the rest of the way, resulting in a rolled omelet:

That was my first try, so it was a little overcooked. Okay, it was a lot overcooked. I know the omelet shouldn't be so brown (or brown at all). You have to move really fast while making these omelets and have everything ready from your utensils to your plate.

I have to say, learning to make an omelet has been on of the greatest things I've learned from TJOTJOC. Until this project, my omelets always looked like scrambled eggs with stuff in them. Now, they are obviously omelets. With a little more practice I think I could make impressive omelets and that thrills me! I filled my omelet with sauteed mushrooms and garlic and it was delicious, too. Mom said that the Spanish omelet was incredibly good--the flavors melded really well together and it was the perfect choice for summer, since it was so vegetable-y. My recommendation would be to use less oil, because there was way, way, way too much olive oil. The omelet filling was swimming in it.

Random facts:

An omelet cooks in less than a minute (On Food and Cooking, p. 91)
The word "omelette" comes from the Latin "lamella" meaning a thin plate (On Food and Cooking, p. 91)

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FRIED BUTTER! At the Iowa State Fair

2011-08-14T14:34:00.003-07:00

I have to preface this post by pointing out that I love the Iowa State Fair. I grew up in Iowa and have great memories of the state fair. I try to get back for it every year. The Iowa State Fair is over 150 years old and gets over a million visitors every year. It also features something like 60 foods available on sticks.

Every year, the state fair try to up the ante. And this year, a vendor at the Iowa State Fair started offering fried butter. Yes, fried butter.

I knew I had to try it.

I love trying strange food items, like the Mc1035.

There was only a small sign advertising the fried butter but a large line of people waiting for it when I showed up Thursday, the first day of the Iowa State Fair.

It appeared to be about a stick or so of butter, heavily battered in a cinnamon/sugar mixture, with frosting of some sort on the top:

Of course, since it was hot and fried, the butter melted and ran out. So it was like eating the fried outside of a food that was missing it's insides.

My friend Nicole got delicious cheese curds--for some reason she didn't feel like eating a stick of butter.

But I forced her to try the fried butter, too.

We only ate about four bites of it because it was really...odd. I can't say I'd get it again. But the shell was tasty and I do love butter. It wasn't nearly as buttery as you would expect, the sweet batter really overpowered the butter. But I'm glad I got it--now I can say I've eaten fried butter!

Creamy cucumber salad (p. 167)

2011-08-03T23:11:00.000-07:00

Summer is usually full of overproducing vegetable gardens for many people. Those people (often totally sick of most of the vegetables growing at such an alarming clip) are usually willing to share, often leading to me having a lot of vegetables (a great problem to have!). Mom had a bunch of cucumbers and was getting a little tired of them. I thought that Creamy cucumber salad (p. 167) might be a nice step off the beaten path.

I tossed sliced cucumbers and salt together in a colander and let it stand (and drain) for almost an hour:

I pressed the cucumber but didn't rinse the salt off (which seemed very strange). I added sour cream and lemon juice and tossed it:

At this point I sprinkled a little basil on the top and it was finished!

This was easy and surprisingly good. The saltiness cut the acidity in the sour cream nicely. It was different than my normal preparations for cucumbers. I really recommend this recipe when you are at the point of summer where you can't imagine eating even one more cucumber.

I have to say, I hate draining cucumbers. Does it really make that big of a difference if you don't? Does anyone know?

Tart corn relish (p. 949)

2011-07-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tart corn relish (p. 949) is perfect for people with a lot of fresh garden veggies. I blanched three ears of corn in boiling water and cut off the kernels (nothing is better than fresh Iowa sweet corn). I mixed the corn with tomatoes, red onion, sweet pickles, cider vinegar, sugar, celery seeds, salt and pepper:

Dad took one bite and proclaimed it the worst thing he had ever eaten.

I don't know how to describe the flavor--I didn't think it was nearly as bad as he did--but the sweet corn, tangy vinegar, acidic tomato, and sugar did mix in an odd way. Way too many flavors were competing for the spotlight.

Dad and I were splitting everything we made--he was keeping half and I was taking half back to mom's house (and, ultimately, all the way back to Colorado). As I was driving home he called me and pointed out that I had forgotten to take the hated corn relish (a point I thought was hilarious) which had been forgotten because it was in the fridge. Apparently the flavor mellowed, because dad said that the next day it was actually really good (why he kept eating something he hated is a mystery). So I recommend giving the flavors a day or two to meld.

This recipe is vegan, too, so it would be a good vegan side dish if you needed one.

Short post! So a question--what do you think of when you hear the word "relish"?

German chocolate cake (p. 719) and Coconut pecan filling (p. 759)

2011-07-29T17:40:00.000-07:00

Fans, I know a lot of you are a bit hard-hearted and particularly like stories of TJOTJOC related disaster. You will be in for a real treat with this post.

I went to my father's house with the express intent of learning how to can and to do some canning, since that is a portion of the book in which I'm spectacularly behind. Dad took the day off of work for this endeavor, since my puppy was used to being left alone for that time, my mom wouldn't have to watch him, and he wouldn't be hassling us or causing destruction in dad's house. Unfortunately, he had to pick up my stepmother around 5 pm, so we started the day with a deadline.

And dad surprised me with a request. Since it was my brother's birthday, we should make him a cake! Of course, the cake had to be made with stuff that he either had on hand or could be easily bought in the tiny grocery store of his town. We settled (rather hilariously without asking the birthday boy) on German chocolate cake (p. 719). The decision to make a cake stressed me out because it limited our timeline even more. I was trying to fly through making the cake.

Of course, the little store didn't have cake flour (mistake 1 or M1) so we just used all-purpose flour (which he refused to sift [M2]), which was combined with baking soda and salt. In another bowl, baking chocolate was finely chopped (chop it VERY finely since you aren't heating it) and mixed with boiling water, with vanilla added once the chocolate was melted. In a third bowl, dad was supposed to beat butter until creamy and slowly add in sugar and egg yolks, which were added one at a time:

As you can see, buttermilk was being held in a measuring cup, as TJOC specified. On low speed, the chocolate was added to the sugar/egg mixture until incorporated. The flour mixture was added in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk, which was added in two parts (so it went flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour):

The batter was actually looking pretty good at this point.

In another bowl, with clean beaters, Dad beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until they were stiff.

A third of the egg whites were folded in to the batter:

And when that was incorporated, the rest of the egg whites were folded in:

He totally forgot to add sugar (M3), which was supposed to be mixed in to the egg whites. It had to be folded in at this point (which I don't think really worked).

Dad poured the batter into pans before I noticed what he was doing. Instead of using three pans, he used two (M4). I knew that was going to be a problem, because when the pans are the wrong size, the batter tends not to cook correctly:

Because the cakes were baked in the wrong size pan, they had a number of problems. By the time the middle was cooked, the edges were overcooked. They overflowed the pan, which caused a layering problem. And they didn't come neatly out of the pan:

I had made the frosting earlier. Obviously, we chose Coconut pecan filling (p. 759), the traditional filling of German chocolate cake.

I combined sugar, heavy cream, egg yolks, and butter in a saucepan:

I cooked it over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture was thickened:

I then mixed in coconut and chopped pecans. Dad didn't have enough pecans, so like is so common in my family, we used a mixture of pecans and walnuts (M5).

The frosting actually looked good and tasted delicious. It had the perfect combination of caramelized sugar, coconut, and pecan flavors...perfection. I will use this recipe again. Of course, it was here another problem occurred (M6). I left the pot on a burner since it was finished but not needed yet. While heating up some water, dad flipped on the wrong burner. Guess which burner got flipped on? Of course, it was the burner with the frosting. We figured it out once the overwhelming stench of burning sugar came wafting through the air. Thankfully, just the bottom was burned and the rest of the frosting was salvageable (there wasn't enough coconut for another batch).

Honestly, tell me this isn't the ugliest cake you've ever seen?

I decided not to embarrass my brother by taking a picture of him with this monstrosity.

Apparently, the sides of German chocolate cake are supposed to be left unfrosted. Believe it or not, it was actually pretty good! The cake was dry (to be expected by the mishandling of the ingredients and the cake pan problem) but had a nice flavor and the frosting was actually pretty tasty (miraculously, not burnt tasting). Frankly, if the cake could make it through all those mistakes and not be absolutely terrible, I recommend the recipe, because if you make it correctly it should be awesome! My brother was a good sport about the whole thing.

Even the candles were sad:

They melted wax all over the cake so you had to pick around the wax while eating (final mistake). You can see how crumbly it was--that's from overbaking the cake due to the wrong pan size.

I hope some of you can add stories of cakes gone wrong.

Random facts:
German chocolate cake has absolutely nothing to do with Germany. Apparently Sam German, who was an American, worked for Baker's Chocolate and developed a type of dark baking chocolate. Baker's named their sweet chocolate after him. So it was Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate. A baker developed the cake in the 50's, calling it German's Chocolate Cake. Somewhere along the line the possessive got dropped (Wikipedia). So German chocolate cake has nothing to do with Germany. A new fact for you to share at your next dinner party!

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Sauteed milkweed pods (p. 279)

2011-07-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Every now and then TJOC surprises me (usually in a bad way). Sometimes it's a weird ingredient, sometimes it's a bizarre cooking method, sometimes it's an strange piece of equipment. I honestly didn't know how I was ever going to make Sauteed milkweed pods (p. 279). I don't think milkweed pods are available in any grocery store (even the most esoteric of them) and the only recipes for them online appeared to be on survivalist websites. My main experience with milkweed pods was walking around with my childhood bestie Jennifer, pulling them off of our elementary school fence, and opening the pods so they spewed out their milky guts (I think we are probably responsible for a giant milkweed problem on our elementary school fence lines).

Rachel had taken it as her personal mission to help me figure this recipe out. She had spotted milkweeds while biking to work one day so she knew it was "milkweed season". When I got to Iowa, she "harvested" some milkweed pods off of random fences (sorry if we stole your milkweeds, Ames residents!). While reading up on milkweeds, I noticed that they are apparently jam packed with latex, to which I'm seriously allergic, so it's a really good thing I read the Wikipedia page and abstained!

The young milkweeds (they look like alien vegetables):

I boiled the pods for about five minutes (they made strange noises, so if they do that for you, don't be concerned)(what kind of weird noise? Sort of like a tire deflating).

In a skillet I heated some olive oil and added minced garlic, cooking until fragrant.

I added the milkweed pods, used a little salt and pepper, and cooked it all for a few more minutes. I added grated Parmesan:

Nobody really wanted to try this recipe but I kept pointing out that most things are good when cooking in olive oil and then seasoned with garlic and Parmesan, so the recipe was giving the milkweed pods the best chance they could have.

Rachel said that they were surprisingly good! She said they sort of tasted like zucchini and she would eat them again. My mom, who was seriously skeptical, even said the one she ate was good. So if you have milkweeds climbing up your fences, eat them! But make sure they are still young and tender.

Now I just have to find the rest of the strange stuff I need...

Bacon sundae from Denny's

2011-07-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

While looking through my pictures, I was absolutely shocked I had forgotten to post about something as monumental as the bacon sundae at Denny's! The bacon sundae was the pinnacle (in my opinion) of Denny's awesome Baconalia (very possibly the best name ever). I went with the intrepid Kristin. While not as secret as the Mc1035, it was definitely as bizarre.

Of course, I loved it. Bacon+maple syrup+ice cream=dreamy bliss for Jessica. The maple complimented both the ice cream and the bacon perfectly, the creaminess of the vanilla ice cream was a great foil for the crunchiness of the bacon, I thought it was amazing. I would make it for myself at home. I love bacon. I LOVE BACON! If you love bacon, eat a bacon sundae.

Would you eat a bacon sundae?

Hot chicken salad (p. 106)

2011-07-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

I made some chicken stock for my mom and hoped to find a recipe to use the poached chicken. Hot chicken salad (p. 106) looked perfect! I really love chicken salad--I make a terrific curried chicken salad--but I'd never had a hot version.

I mixed cream of chicken soup with a few tablespoons of milk:

I combined that with cooked chicken, celery, mayonnaise, lemon juice, chives, tarragon, and salt:

And it got popped in the oven for fifteen minutes:

The dish came out looking essentially the same as it looked going in. It was surprisingly good! The crunch of the celery contrasted nicely with the creaminess of the rest of the dish and it was good both spread on bread and on crackers. It was also super easy and used leftover chicken, which is always nice. I think this would be a terrific dish for football party or any sort of appetizer party.

On that note, I've been noticing that I mention often that certain dishes would be good for certain parties. Would anyone be interested if I put together a few menus? Like a menu for a Superbowl party or for a Mad Men party? Let me know!

Pop's deviled eggs (p. 195) and Melon and prosciutto I (p. 230)

2011-07-03T13:36:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a couple of food items to bring to a pre-4th of July party I was attending. As I said before, everyone seems to like deviled eggs, so I thought I would make Pop's deviled eggs (p. 195).

I always pipe everything using a plastic bag, so I just mix it in there, too. Helps eliminate the mess! I added mayonnaise, chili sauce, black pepper, celery salt, and dry mustard straight to the bag:

I smooshed (yes, that is the technical term) it all together:

And piped it in to the egg whites:

The eggs:

Frankly, I think they looked a little...gross. I mean, the chili sauce turned the yolks almost a brown color, which wasn't very appetizing. And the celery salt flavor came through loud and clear in the flavor--a little too loud and clear in my opinion. I don't think I would bother with this recipe in the future. I really hate the color.

I never liked melon, so the fact that I'm now allergic to it doesn't concern me much. I particularly don't like the combination of Melon and prosciutto (p. 230) which was a typical appetizer in my Italian-American family.

I cut up the melon. Big slices (each side cut into 6 slices):

The recipe says to just "drape" the ham over the melon:

My mom thought that was ridiculous. So she wrapped the melon:

Wrapping the melon did look a lot better. This was not a popular appetizer at the barbecue and really doesn't hold well at all. I know people like the combination of the salty ham and the sweet melon but I've never quite "gotten" the combo.

So, readers, do you like prosciutto and melon?

Mediterranean boneless chicken breasts baked in foil (p. 439)

2011-07-01T05:32:00.001-07:00

Mom told me that she had boneless, skinless chicken breasts and asked if there was something that I could make out of them. We agreed that Mediterranean boneless chicken breasts baked in foil (p. 439) looked good (and, more importantly, mom had most of the ingredients).

I combined finely chopped brine cured black olives, oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, and basil (super fresh basil, straight off mom's plant):

I placed a chicken breast on a piece of oiled foil (poetry!) and spooned some of the olive mixture on the top.

I wrapped each one of the chicken breasts up nice and tight in the foil:

And into the oven they went.

When the foil packets were opened up, the chicken was certainly colorful and attractive:

...and surprisingly bland. I don't know how it was bland because it had so many strong flavors (olives, sundried tomatoes, basil) but it was very boring. It was also oddly tough, which surprised me, because I thought that the foil method would protect against overcooking.

If I was to make this recipe again (which is doubtful) I would season it a LOT more. I would add garlic, at the very minimum.

Does anyone use the pouch method regularly? It seems like extra work with no payoff to me.

Deviled or stuffed eggs (p. 195)

2011-06-30T19:09:00.001-07:00

My mom had a food day at work and asked if I wanted to make anything for her to bring to it. I thought that Deviled or stuffed eggs (p. 195) would be perfect. Everybody (except me) loves deviled eggs!

The recipe is funny. You prepare and peel hard boiled eggs, then you cut them in half. You then crush the yolks and moisten them with one of many choices (vinaigrette, mayo, heavy cream, sour cream, butter with vinegar and sugar, lemon juice, or pickle juice--I used mayo but I was very interested in the pickle juice [has anyone tried this?]) and season it with anything from either of two additional long lists of ingredients (I used dry mustard, salt, and paprika), and pipe the mixture into egg white. So, in my opinion, this is barely a recipe, but more a giant list of options. I went very simple but you could get much more exotic.

So simple and so popular. Mom said they were gone almost as soon as she set them down. This recipe is a classic.

I use a plastic bag with the end cut off to pipe the yolks, which looks so much better than when I attempt to use a spoon to fill the whites. How do you fill the egg whites?

Random facts:

Deviled eggs are also called "eggs mimosa" (Wikipedia), which I love

Becker barbecued shrimp (p. 386), Grilled or broiled shrimp or scallops (p. 386), and Blender mayonnaise (p. 579)

2011-05-25T17:31:00.004-07:00

I am being seriously punished for writing these posts so much later than when I actually cooked the dishes. This post (and about ten others) are going to be more like memory exercises!

Josh and I both love shrimp.

A lot.

Unfortunately, shrimp in landlocked Colorado can be quite expensive. So when I stumbled on a great shrimp sale, I was extremely excited to dust off the ole' TJOC shellfish chapter and see what I could find.

I started with Becker barbecued shrimp (p. 386). First, I ground rosemary, oregano, red pepper flakes, sweet paprika, whole peppercorns, and salt in my spice grinder. I added the mixture (which even at that point smelled spicy and delicious) to melted butter, along with a whole bunch of minced garlic:

I added peeled shrimp to the spice mixture:

Once cooked, the now-heavily-spiced-shrimp were removed from the pan:

Beer and chicken broth were added to the cooking mixture, which was then boiled for a couple minutes:

The shrimp were added back into the cooking mixture and heated through:

This dish was extremely good. It was extremely heavily spiced and flavorful--delicious, although not "barbecued" in the traditional sense (or really in any sense, I'm not exactly sure where the "barbecue" in the title comes from). The recipe looks long and complex but was actually quite easy once it got started. And when I dipped bread in the extra sauce it was amazing.

I also decided to make Grilled or broiled shrimp or scallops (p. 386). Josh is a big fan of the pre-made shrimp at Whole Foods, I always complain that it's way too expensive, so I figured that I could make the shrimp myself.

I laid peeled shrimp on a baking sheet and drizzled olive oil over them (I know I deviated from the recipe here but I didn't want to get another bowl dirty).

I broiled the shrimp for a couple of minutes and then flipped them over and broiled the other side:

Done! Incredibly easy. Easy and delicious. I think this might be my go-to recipe for simple shrimp from now on. I liked the flavor and texture of broiled shrimp more than boiled shrimp. And the lack of added flavors made the shrimp a perfect base for a sauce (in my mind, most items are the perfect base for a sauce, I love sauce)! I decided to make remoulade sauce with Blender mayonnaise (p. 579).

I placed an egg, dry mustard, salt, a bit of ground red pepper, sugar, and vegetable oil in the blender:

I blended it and, with the blender running slowly, first added vegetable oil, and then lemon juice:

And more vegetable oil:

And I blended until thick. Incredibly simple and much easier on the wrists than making traditional mayonnaise. It was tasty, although I rarely feel the need to make mayonnaise from scratch. Making mayo from scratch is pretty impressive to people, so it's a nice item to add to your repertoire of skills.

Jasper Fforde and Euclid Hall

2011-05-18T16:21:00.004-07:00

I love, love, love the author Jasper Fforde. His books are almost in a genre of their own and are rather difficult to explain or categorize. Essentially, in his Thursday Next series, characters live in a world similar to ours (but not the same) where trained people can actually enter (and change) books. If you love literature and love the English language (and especially if you like wordplay and puns), you will love his books. They are clever and amazing. I have been a superfan for ten years now and convinced most of my friends and family to love him too.

So when I heard he was coming to Denver again (I saw him 4 years ago), I knew I had to go. Josh and I decided to make a nice little one day trip out of it.

Jasper Fforde and I:

Exciting!

I'm sure you are thinking "Fascinating, Jessica, but what the heck does this have to do with food?".

Josh and I decided that we would just stay the night in Denver and go to a great meal. My friend Kristin, an amazing local restaurant critic, gave me a bunch of recommendations. One of them was Euclid Hall. I looked at the online menu, was immediately intrigued, and chose it.

Euclid Hall is one of those truly interesting restaurants where the food is very creative and very delicious.

We would never have found this place on our own. The building was built in 1893 and has been everything from a Mason hall to a high-end brothel. It doesn't look like a restaurant. We walked in and couldn't quite figure out what to do--the area we walked in to was obviously a bar, there was no obvious restaurant area, and there was no hostess. We waited around awkwardly for a few minutes and then followed a waitress up some stairs. Ah! There is the restaurant! The waiter gave us attitude for wandering up on our own (annoying) but looked down and noticed the hostess was in fact missing, which improved his attitude.

We started with a couple drinks. My martini was amazing. Euclid Hall must have a mixologist on staff because there are some truly innovative drinks utilizing house made mixers, like maraschino syrup.

When I see something truly novel on a menu, I want to eat it. And, as I work in the meat industry, when I see a truly novel variety meat on the menu, I REALLY have to get it. So Crispy Buaffalo-Style Pig Ears were our appetizer.

The pig ears reminded me of sweetbreads. The texture is...odd. The word "mucous-y" probably isn't completely right but it's not completely wrong either. They tasted good, once we we got over the texture, but I'm still willing to leave the pig ears to my dogs as chew toys.

Euclid hall grinds their own sausage but, more importantly, they pickle their own pickles! We got the pickle sampler which included sweet bread and butter pickles, hops infused pickles, "hot, spicy, and very sincere pickles", and a seasonal pickle:

These were so good. I love pickles (remember, I'm part of a pickle-of-the-month club). And I LOVED these pickles. Each variety was totally different and equally interesting. The bread and butter pickles were sweet and spicy, the hops-infused pickles had just enough hops flavor, and the spicy pickles had a great multi-dimensional spiciness that many hot pickles lack.

I also love poutine. I think it's the best part of Canada every time I go there. So spotting poutine on a menu in Denver? Super exciting. They had three varieties and I picked the wild mushroom version ("Wild mushroom, porcini gravy, Wisconsin cheddar curds"):

Delicious. The exact right amount of savory gravy, perfect curds, a true winner. Sometimes poutine can be too salty and this one wasn't, which was great.

I also ordered the caraway spatzle:

I adore spatzle and this was a really good version, although it had an oddly herbaceous taste. It was also a HUGE portion for a side. I didn't come close to eating it all.

Josh ordered the grilled prime tri-tip steak, which came with cast iron roasted vegetables and a black garlic aioli:

The steak was perfectly cooked and tender and the vegetables were also incredibly good (and well seasoned).

If I see "S'mores" in a dessert, I can't pass it up. So I ordered the S'mores pot de creme ("house made graham crackers and marshmallows").

The pot de creme had creamy pudding base, a toasted marshmallow top, and the homemade graham cracker was terrific. I hadn't known what I was missing by not having tried homemade graham crackers in the past.

Josh got the sourdough waffle ice cream sandwich ("salted butterscotch ice cream, praline".

It, like everything else, was delicious. Frankly, it's hard to go wrong with a salted dessert.

The meal was truly terrific. The ambiance was awesome too, it made a perfect date night. I absolutely want to go back soon. If I had a rating system, Euclid Hall would get the perfect score. It isn't even as expensive as you would expect. I think our whole meal was only around $70 or so.

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Chicken or turkey divan (p. 113) and Seafood divan (p. 113)

2011-05-14T22:10:00.001-07:00

Divans are one of those really retro (some would say "dated") casserole style American foods. They would totally be appropriate at that "Mad Men" party you are planning to throw. But they aren't anything that your average person even considers making on an average day. That being said, a divan is a pretty easy way to liven up leftover chicken and uses ingredients that you probably have on hand.

I decided to make both Chicken or turkey divan (p. 113) and Seafood divan (p. 113) because it took about the same amount of effort to make both that it was going to take to make one.

I didn't take pictures of the process for this one. Sorry!

I took slices of hot buttered toast and layered them with sliced cooked turkey breast. I spooned cooked broccoli on the top, sprinkled with a little salt, and layered Mornay sauce over the top. It was only after making batch one of the Mornay sauce that I realized the TJOC recipe only produces one cup at a time and I needed more than that. Fortunately, Mornay sauce is easy to scale up and I can make it super, super fast now, so it wasn't a problem. I sprinkled Parmesan over the top of the divan.

For the seafood divan I replaced the turkey with tuna (one with canned, the other two with pouch) and replaced the broccoli with asparagus. Seafood divan would be a great choice for Catholics during lent, who are getting sick of their McDonald's Filet O Fish.

Finished seafood divan:

Finished turkey divan:

So how where they? Josh said that the seafood divan using canned tuna was a bit soggy, so you are better off using pouch tuna or shrimp. I thought the turkey divan was quite good, it was almost good enough to sway me from my hatred of hot sandwiches. The lasting lesson from these two dishes is that Mornay sauce makes anything better. The Mornay sauce mixed with the vegetables was by far the best part of the dish.

Feta dressing (p. 576)

2011-05-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

The salad dressings in TJOC have always been my go-to for easy recipes to knock out. Unfortunately, I have made most of the dressings that look good to me already. So when I spotted Feta dressing (p. 576) I was excited. I love feta! Everyone in the house loved feta (Mom and Josh) so I figured I had a winner.

It was easy. I combined feta, red wine vinegar, oregano, and a little salt and pepper in a food processor:

I slowly added olive oil:

And it was finished! It actually required more olive oil than the recipe called for because my feta was rather dry. Believe it or not, the dressing was actually sort of bland. I think it needed some "kick"--either red pepper or garlic or something extra. I also think it would work better as a dip than as a salad dressing.

And now two random pictures:

Josh, changing the oil on his car, and using a puppy pee-pad to catch drips. For some reason, I find this hysterical:

We have a lot (a LOT) of puppy pee-pads left over because we decided to skip that step of housebreaking. Any other puppy pad uses you guys can think of?

Our two dogs, on each side of a bewildered Muggy (my mother's dog). In the time since this picture was taken, little Lestat took down the screen door. You wouldn't think a 7-lb papillon could do that but you'd be wrong.

Peanut butter pie (p. 684) and Chocolate ganache glaze or frosting (p. 795)

2011-05-07T18:20:00.005-07:00

My brother-in-law had requested a pecan pie for his college graduation party but I figured there are no events in which extra dessert was unwelcome, so I would make an extra pie. Mom only had a single pie crust left so I flipped through TJOC reading aloud to my mom and Josh all the single crust pie recipes. They were only interested in one--Peanut butter pie (p. 684)

Peanut butter pie may be one of the most fattening, sinful recipes I've ever seen.

I mixed cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until smoothly blended:

In another bowl I whipped cold heavy cream until stiff peaks formed:

I folded half of the whipped cream in to the peanut butter mixture to "lighten it":

Eventually I worked the rest of the whipped cream in to the peanut butter (be prepared, this step seems to take forever):

I poured it into my prepared crust (which had been baked):

I pressed a sheet of plastic wrap over the top and refrigerated it for about four hours. In the meantime I made Chocolate ganache glaze or frosting (p. 795). I heated heavy cream in a small saucepan until it came to a boil:

I added finely chopped semisweet and bittersweet chocolate to the cream (it was a mixture of both since that's what I had on hand):

I stirred until most of the chocolate was melted and then covered the pot and let it stand for 10 minutes:

I brought the chocolate to a boil (again) and then allowed it to cool to lukewarm. I poured the glaze over the pie and sprinkled chopped salted peanuts over the top:

If your arteries don't feel quite clogged enough, TJOC recommends topping the whole thing with a dollop of whipped cream.

The inside:

This was an incredibly decadent cake. It was silky, smooth, and delicious. The slightly bitter chocolate cut through the sweetness of the peanut butter and the peanuts lent a nice crunchy bite to the creaminess of the cake. It was a hit with absolutely everyone at the party. It also seemed like an expensive cake, bought rather than homemade. This is a good choice for a party that isn't particularly formal but one at which you wish to impress people.

Random facts:

Wikipedia says that the word "ganache" is from the French word for jowl. That seems extremely strange. On Food and Cooking's assertion that it is from the French word for cushion makes much more sense (p. 707).

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Pecan pie (p. 682)

2011-05-07T17:31:00.001-07:00

I will share a small story so you all know how obsessive I am about TJOC. I have a giant Google document that includes every recipe I have yet to make. It includes which recipes have strange ingredients, which have strange equipment, and who (out of the friends and family I often cook with) would like to help me with each recipe. I am rather embarrassed about this because it seems over-the-top and share it sparingly (I think I've shown it to about 6 people). When Josh and I decided to go to his brother's graduation, I knew I wanted to make a dessert from TJOC. So I sent my BIL the document and let him pick what he was interested in.

He chose Pecan pie (p. 682), after slogging through about 600 desserts.

I blended together eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, vanilla, and salt.

I mixed in two cups of...pecans...(Mom didn't actually have two cups of pecans so my pecan pie became more of a pecan/walnut pie):

I poured the nut mixture in to a baked crust:

It was baked for about 40 minutes (make sure to cover your crust so that it doesn't burn--I have a new paper clip trick to try out and show you next time):

It was oozy when we cut in to it:

How was it? Good! Again, I think it was a bit too loose and the crust stuck to the bottom of the pan, which I didn't like. Overall, it had a great flavor (not too sweet and full of tasty nuts) and it was a winner with the crowd. It was certainly full of nuts, which I like in pecan pie--it seems like sometimes I buy a piece and it's all filler and not nearly enough nuts.

I always associate pecan pie with my Uncle Dale. Dale was an incredibly amazing and incredibly eccentric man. He was the type of man who told his friends that he would marry the next women who got on the bus (and he did--he was happily married to my Aunt Patsy until he passed away a few years ago). He owned a chimney sweep company, wore a top hat like Abe Lincoln, and even had a Madame Alexander doll modeled after him. He was an incredibly nice man (he would literally give you the shirt off his back), a super interesting person (he had gigantic collections of everything from Viewfinders to jukeboxes), and a great businessman (not a combination found in most people). And he made an amazing pecan pie. I don't think I ever spent any time with Dale which didn't, at some point, include pecan pie. So I reminisced about my late uncle while making the pie, making the experience bittersweet.

I have food memories about essentially all of my close relatives (my Aunt Charlotte makes the best gravy in the world and the best vinaigrette, I ate caviar and blini for the first time with my Aunts JeJe and Jen, I always associate vichyssoise and beef tartar with my Uncle Denny and my Aunt Ginni, and so on...) so when an association that I didn't remember until I was actually baking the item pops out of the woodwork, it's a nice surprise. Does everyone associate their family with food memories as strongly as I do?

(Photograph: The Augusta Chronicle)

Breaded panfried fish fillets (p. 407)

2011-05-06T23:13:00.000-07:00

While home for my brother-in-law's graduation party, mom mentioned that she had some fish that she would be willing to donate to the TJOC cause. I read some possible recipes and she picked Breaded panfried fish fillets (p. 407).

The recipe was simple (and, thus, the post is short). I poured flour in to a bowl and seasoned it with a little salt and pepper. I coated my fish (tilapia and cod) with the flour and popped them in hot butter:

After a few minutes I flipped them:

And finished:

Extremely simple and very good. The seasoned flour gave a little crispness to the skin but the fish was still tender and flaky. I will keep this recipe in mind for when I want fish cooked really fast.

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Strawberry shortcake (p. 733) and Cream biscuits or shortcakes (p. 639)

2011-04-26T20:57:00.001-07:00

I had strawberries and desperately wanted strawberry shortcake. I love strawberry shortcake. In fact, I think strawberry shortcake is probably in my top four favorite desserts (the others being s'mores, ice cream cake, and chocolate lava cake). Unfortunately, I didn't have the little sponge bottoms or pound cake. I decided not to let that stop me and looked up Strawberry shortcake (p. 733)

TJOC gives a lot of choices for the "shortcake" part of the recipe. I chose to make Cream biscuits or shortcakes (p. 639).

The recipe was very simple. I whisked together flour, baking powder, and salt:

I added heavy cream (all at once):

I blended until the dry ingredients were just moistened. I kneaded it a few times:

And cut it in to squares (easier than rounds):

And baked:

Super easy. I think it took less than five minutes to make these biscuits (well, without the baking time).

Once my biscuits were done, the rest of the recipe was simple. I hulled my strawberries, mashed a quarter of them with a potato masher, and sliced the rest. I added sugar to the strawberries:

I whipped some cream. I cut the biscuits down the middle, filled the biscuits with strawberries, and plopped whipped cream over the top:

This is the first time I had ever eaten a biscuit based strawberry shortcake and I was pleasantly surprised. The biscuits were tender and flaky and surprisingly sweet for not having any added sugar. Josh adored them and ate them for days (he insisted they heated up well). I was really glad to start my biscuit making this way because they were so simple I'm actually looking forward to the others.

What's your favorite base for strawberry shortcake? Biscuits, sponge cake, pound cake, or something else?

Sadly, although I thought these were good and happily ate my fill, I like my strawberry shortcake with those little sponge cakes from the grocery store and Cool Whip just as well.

Pan-roasted pork tenderloin (p. 503) and Herb pan sauce (p. 547)

2011-04-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

Josh and I couldn't find a ham on sale for Easter (our preferred holiday dish) so we bought what I thought at the time was a pork tenderloin. And (this is extremely embarrassing as someone in the meat industry like myself) it was not a pork tenderloin, it was just cut to resemble one. I should have payed more attention (although, in my defense, Josh actually is the one who picked up and put it in the cart).

I decided to make Pan-roasted pork tenderloin (p. 503) and I made sure to make it in a non-nonstick pan so I would have pan drippings. I seasoned my pork "tenderloin", adding it to a skillet with butter and olive oil. I seared it on all sides and then lowered the heat to cook it.

I realized at this point (while the outside was overcooking and the inside was still raw) that because my pork "tenderloin" was not actually a tenderloin, it wasn't the correct size so I split it for more even cooking:

An easy method for tenderloin preparation, it would undoubtedly have been better with a real tenderloin.

The best part was that the tenderloin gave me terrific drippings for Herb pan sauce (p. 547). I added shallots to the pot and cooked them until softened. At that point I added chicken stock and stirred and scraped to get the browned bits up:

I added Dijon mustard, Cognac, and bay leaves and kept stirring until the gravy was slightly thickened. I added heavy cream and cooked until the gravy was reduced by half:

Stirred in parsley:

And was done!

I love gravy. I love all sauces. I always forget about delicious gravy. This gravy was shallot-y, and pork-y, and all things great. It was incredibly easy, too, and you could leave out the heavy cream if you didn't want those extra, super tasty calories. Until recently I've been afraid to make my own gravy because it seemed difficult (you always hear stories about lumpy gravy) but it really isn't. Try it if you haven't!

Sea scallop gratin (Coquilles St. Jacques au gratin) (p. 378)

2011-04-24T13:54:00.001-07:00

My favorite restaurant in Des Moines is the French restaurant Django. The last time I ate there I had an amazing Scallops St. Jacques. I was excited when I noticed Sea scallop gratin (Coquilles St. Jacques au gratin) (p. 378) in TJOC, hoping that it would be similar. For some reason I thought it would be a good addition to our (rather non-traditional) Easter meal.

I sauteed shallots and garlic in butter:

I added quartered mushrooms (I like quartered mushrooms, I need to remember that) and salt:

When the mushrooms were softened, I added white wine and cooked until the wine was almost evaporated. I then added heavy cream:

I brought the concoction to a boil and cooked it until thickened:

I mixed in my scallops:

Sure, the title says "sea scallops" but sea scallops are super expensive in Colorado, so I used bay scallops.

When the scallops were no longer translucent I removed them from the heat and mixed in a little lemon juice.

In another bowl I mixed melted butter, fresh bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper:

The gratin should be served in either the individual gratin dishes, which I don't have. I could only find two of my ramekins, too, which didn't help matters. So I decided two of the dishes would be served accurately and the rest would go in to a big dish. I layered the scallop mixture first and sprinkled the gratin on top:

And popped it in the oven:

So delicious. This is one of those dishes that tastes expensive, difficult, and decadent, but was incredibly simple. It's going into the imaginary folder labeled "Impressive Dishes for Company". And, if I served it on mashed potatoes, and made it with sea scallops instead of bay scallops, I think it would be in the vicinity of the delicious gratin at Django. Believe it or not, it even heated up well the next day (although it was more like soup at that point). This is an absolutely terrific recipe and is definitely joining the ranks of my TJOC favorites.

Random facts:

The shell behind Venus in the famous statue "The birth of Venus" is a scallop shell (Wikipedia)
People who pilgrimaged to the shrine of St. John (St. Jacques) in Spain ate scallops as a penance and fastened the shells to their hats (TJOC, p. 377)
"Scalloped" originally meant seafood creamed, heated, and served in the shell (TJOC, p. 377) although now it refers to casseroles that don't include seafood (scalloped potatoes, for example)
Scallops escape predators by swimming (On Food and Cooking, p. 224). I totally did not know they could swim.

I'm going to end this post with an adorable picture of my puppy in a Iowa State Cyclones jersey:

Cute!

Root vegetable braise (p. 246) and Beer, cheese, and scallion bread (p. 629)

2011-04-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

I think a lot of people probably pass right by Root vegetable braise (p. 246) because of...well...because of the root vegetables. They aren't your normal, everyday root veggies, like potatoes or carrots.

These root vegetables: Turnips, rutabaga, and celery root:

are just not as popular as potatoes and carrots. I decided to post a before and after shot because I figure not everyone even knows what they look like. Turnips and rutabaga can easily be peeled with a normal veggie peeler. Celery root is more of a pain. I just chop at it with a knife. The naked veggies:

I heated olive oil, butter, a bay leaf, and thyme in a stock pot (I was supposed to use a sprig of thyme but I didn't have any):

I added diced onions and cooked until they started to brown. I then added four large mushrooms (creminis, if you are interested) and some garlic:

It was all cooked for a few minutes and I added wine. After the wine had boiled down to a syrup, I added turnips, rutabaga, celery root, a little flour, and some salt, along with some chicken stock:

I simmered it all until tender:

I added a little Dijon mustard and heavy cream (TJOC's two favorite ingredients):

This is a great introduction to underutilized root vegetables. It was delicious and flavorful, although I would add a little more flour in the future, because I think it needed to be thicker. I think the braise would be great on couscous. It's mentioned that you could also add sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes), artichoke hearts, fennel, or salsify, so it's a great use for that stuff in your CSA box that you have no idea how to use.

On a whim, I decided to make Beer, cheese, and scallion bread (p. 629).

I mixed together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt:

I added in light beer (Miller High Life, if you were wondering, the Champagne of beers):

I stirred in finely diced Monterey Jack, sliced scallions, and caraway seeds and poured it in to a loaf pan:

It was popped in the oven:

I'll admit, I was doomed to not like this recipe. I don't like whole grain bread so those oats were going to be a problem. I particularly don't like whole wheat. And this bread was plenty whole-grainy, so for those of you who like that, this bread will probably be a winner. It also had a heavy, heavy, heavy beer taste that I didn't particularly love either. On top of all that, it seemed sort of salty to me.

Random facts:

Beer bread is based on the idea that both beer and bread have a common element in yeast (Wikipedia)
Miller High Life is considered the "Champagne of beers" because of the high carbonation level (like champagne!) (Wikipedia)
Miller High Life has been around since 1903
Celery root is also called Celeriac (On Food and Cooking, p. 309)
The rutabaga results from a cross between turnips and cabbage (OFaC, p. 316)

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Madeleines (p. 739)

2011-04-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

Without having a specific motivation, I'm not sure when I would have bothered to make Madeleines (p. 739). They were one of the three recipes that were voted for me to make by readers (Madeleines, vanilla coconut shrimp, which I haven't made yet, and chicken pot pie).

Madeleines are strange. First off, they look like cookies but are actually tiny cakes. Secondly, they require a special pan that I'm guessing very few people own. Third, they are always sold in coffee shops, but, because I don't drink coffee, I'd never bought one before. I assumed they were hard like biscotti.

I swore these cakes were cursed. I misread the recipe, following an order that I thought was logical, but wasn't actually what the recipe said, so I had to throw out the first batch of batter. Then, as I was pushing the mixer blades in to the mixer, I somehow managed to turn it on. It sucked my hand in, badly bruising it. In fact, I couldn't get my hand out of the mixer for a few minutes, it was that thoroughly caught. But I persevered and started again.

I beat butter with a spatula until it was about the consistency of mayonnaise (something I thought was a strange direction):

In another bowl, I beat eggs, an extra egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla until the batter was light yellow. In yet another bowl, I sifted together sifted cake flour, baking powder, and salt, and returned it to the sifter. I sifted the flour mixture into the egg mixture and folded them together. I then folded a dollop of the egg mixture into the butte, eventually scraping that back in to the egg mixture (got that? It was very confusing, which is why the first batch got thrown out).

I buttered my molds well (they aren't kidding--butter the heck out of the molds) and poured the batter in so the molds were about three-quarters full:

They were baked:

My pretty Madeleines:

These were extremely good. Again, they aren't cookies, which I think can throw people off, but are little buttery unfrosted cakes. Personally, I think they look expensive. When I own a coffee shop/restaurant/something food related, I will sell them for 2/$3 or something because they look difficult to make. And frankly, although they are fairly simple, they do require buying a special pan, which is more than most people are willing to do. But if you have a Madeleine pan sitting around, gathering dust, or you see one at a garage sale, buy it! They were popular with everyone I gave them to.

Tapioca custard (p. 820)

2011-04-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

I'll come right out and say it--I hate tapioca. I've always hated tapioca. It reminds me of fish eyes (I don't know why, it's not like people are trying to sneak fish eyes in to my food on a regular--or even irregular-- basis).

Josh has taken to bubble tea like a fish to water. I hate bubble tea. I learned how much I hate it while I was in Taiwan, where it seems to be the national drink of choice. Sucking up those boba is horrifying to me. So, it turns out I hate tapioca in all of it's forms. But when I realized that Josh liked bubble tea it dawned on me that he must like tapioca and a metaphorical light bulb went off. I could pawn Tapioca custard (p. 820), something I would never eat, off on him!

Obviously, I am not the only person who hates tapioca. The tapioca was on the very bottom shelf at the grocery store.

I whisked milk, sugar, quick-cooking tapioca, and salt in a saucepan, let it sit for ten minutes, and then slowly brought it to a simmer:

After about two minutes, I whisked in a beaten egg. I stirred it over low heat until it started to thicken:

I stirred a bit of vanilla in and voila! Tapioca custard!

It was everything I expected it to be but Josh liked it and it was certainly easy. The one bite I forced myself to eat did have a nice flavor but I couldn't get over the texture. I've decided my feelings are best described in haiku form:

Fish eyes or bubbles?
Is it really a dessert?
Ick! Tapioca

Random facts:

Tapioca comes from the cassava plant. There are two types of cassava: bitter and sweet. Bitter is preferred by farmers because it naturally deters pests and animals due to compounds that convert to hydrogen cyanide. Eating untreated or mistreated cassava can (and has) killed lots and lots of people over the years. Cooking is enough to eliminate the hydrogen cyanide in sweet cassava but bitter cassava has to be more thoroughly processed before it's safe to eat. Apparently the cyanide gets carried out in the water ( On Food and Cooking, p. 305 and Wikipedia). One would think this would cause major environmental impact.
Even so, cassava is the third most eaten carbohydrate in the world. It's particularly important in the tropics because it can grow in poor soil with low rainfall (Wikipedia).
Cassava is a gluten-free starch (Wikipedia), so it would be good for Celiacs and people with gluten-intolerance.

Fish steaks poached in white wine (p. 400)

2011-04-19T23:26:00.000-07:00

I bought a package of frozen tuna steaks on sale at the grocery store. I had never bought fish steaks in freezer bags--it was much cheaper than buying them in the seafood section, so I'm definitely going to do that again. I decided to make Fish steaks poached in white wine (p. 400) because it sounded easy and tasty.

I combined white wine, water, white wine vinegar, salt, whole peppercorns, coriander seeds, cloves, a bay leaf, a garlic clove, and dried herbs in a skillet and boiled it all over high heat:

I added the tuna steaks:

And cooked until they were done. Or actually overdone--tuna cooks really fast:

Even overdone it was really good. The poaching broth kept the fish totally tender and juicy and it was highly flavored from all the aromatics in the broth. The recipe was incredibly easy, which is always a big plus.

Random facts:

Tuna are large predator fish that swim in the open ocean and can reach speeds of 40 miles/70 kilometers an hour (On Food and Cooking, p. 201). What?? That's amazing.
Bluefin and bigeye tuna live in deep, cold water so they accumulate far more fat, making them more prized in many cultures (On Food and Cooking, p. 201).
Tuna schools often swim next dolphins. It's thought this is to guard against tuna-lovin' sharks (Wikipedia)
Canned tuna was first produced in 1903 (Wikipedia)

Fortune cookies (p. 780)

2011-04-18T22:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I open my big mouth too early. And by "sometimes" I mean "often". I don't like when recipes fail. I know that nobody likes a recipe to fail but failure for some people gives them the kick in the rear they need to accomplish bigger and better things. Not me. If a recipe totally is a loss, I move on to making something else most of the time.

"So what?" you are thinking. "Interesting (sort of) but what does it have to do with TJOC?"

Well, still on my high of winning my category in the chili cook-off (sure, I was the only entry in "vegetarian chili" but I refuse to let that diminish my win!) I came up with the bright idea of making Fortune cookies (p. 780) for the one-year anniversary of my awesome coworking space, Cohere. I told everyone about how I was going to do this, with custom "truth or dare" style "fortunes" inside. And then I tried making the cookies.

I stirred together egg whites, sugar, and salt.

I added melted butter, flour, and vanilla (one ingredient at a time):

Eventually, the dough looked like this:

I dropped them on parchment paper and cooked them:

They were failures. Big failures. They were way, way too cookie-like to work as a fortune cookie. A fortune cookie needs to crisp up a lot so that after you fold it, it holds it's shape. That didn't happen with the TJOC version. At this point I wanted to consider the recipe a loss and move on with my life. They were never going to work, frankly, I don't believe the recipe works as a fortune cookie at all.

Unfortunately, remember the beginning of this post? Yeah, I still had people happily tweeting me about their excitement to eat homemade fortune cookies and sending me Facebook messages with their ideas for the truths or dares (which was awesome, I'm not creative enough to come up with all those on my own). So I sighed, went looking throughout the internet, and found another recipe.

Which worked.

I made mountains of fortune cookies:

They were beautiful, surprisingly tasty, went over extremely well, and almost won a cupcake competition that they weren't even entered in (obviously, as they are not cupcakes)--they almost won through write-in votes). They were obnoxiously time-consuming but very rewarding if you like accolades as much as I do. And they were far, far more delicious than your average restaurant fortune cookie!

Becker five-minute polenta rustica (p. 349) and Becker rice and noodle pilaf (p. 355)

2011-04-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

I've grown up eating polenta. It's a really good go-to food that is both cheap and filling (not surprisingly for a food item that has it's roots in gruel and was traditionally considered peasant food [Wikipedia]). So I was intrigued by Becker five-minute polenta rustica (p. 349). Would it really only take 5 minutes? Would it be good?

I melted butter in a saucepan, adding onion and cooking until translucent. I added chicken broth, which I brought to a boil:

I added cornmeal slowly, whisking constantly so that lumps didn't form:

I whisked for five minutes, eventually stirring in Parmesan cheese and salt:

It was surprisingly good! I love polenta and this was a much faster recipe than most. I would much rather stir for 5 minutes than an hour or more. That being said, I didn't think it was quite as good as long simmered polenta but the difference isn't one most people would notice (especially if you haven't eaten your weight in polenta over the years). I will absolutely make this again.

I also made Becker rice and noodle pilaf (p. 355).

I mixed butter, vegetable oil, shallots, fine egg noodles (if you can't find these, look in the Kosher section, that's where they were in our grocery store), and white rice in a skillet and stirred until the noodles were toasted:

I added chicken broth:

I reduced the heat to low, covered, and simmered gently for much more than the recommended 20 minutes:

Like most grain dishes at high altitude, all the water never did get soaked into the rice. And it wasn't until I was finished that I noticed that this recipe makes 10-12 servings. That is a LOT of pilaf for two people. It made a huge amount of pilaf. I'm not a big pilaf fan, I would have been just as happy with a box of Rice-a-Roni. That being said, this was another super easy and cheap recipe.

Both recipes could easily be converted to vegetarian dishes if you used veggie stock rather than chicken stock.

Sweet-and-sour brisket (p. 481)

2011-04-14T01:44:00.000-07:00

I actually had heard from multiple people that the Sweet-and-sour brisket (p. 481) was one of the best recipes in TJOC. And, yet, I wasn't excited at all to try it because it didn't sound very good to me. I stumbled upon a really cheap brisket at the grocery store and thought it would be the perfect time to try out the recipe I had heard so much about.

I browned the brisket (which had been spread with minced garlic and black pepper). While that was happening, I scattered sliced onions around the meat. I cooked the dish until the onions were very brown and then added red wine and beef stock. After a minute I scraped up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan and stirred in chili sauce, cider vinegar, brown sugar, and a bay leaf:

The whole thing went in the oven for almost 3 hours.

The brisket was allowed to cool in the pan and then popped in the refrigerator overnight. The next day I removed the bay leaf, sliced the meat, returned the meat to the sauce, and reheated in the oven (believe it or not, that's in the recipe):

Sorry for the hideous picture (yes. even I know this picture is awful).

The brisket was delicious. Tender, flavorful, and amazing. The recipe makes quite a bit and heats up easily, making it a great option for a dinner in which you aren't completely sure when the guests are arriving (like when people are traveling in). I made it again for a graduation supper after this original time and it was a hit with everyone. I think the "sweet and sour" title is a bit of a misnomer. The sweetness comes from the sugar and the sour from the vinegar but it's really not that sweet or that sour. Plus it's not Asian-inspired at all, which I always expect from something called "sweet and sour". This is one of those rare dishes that even though most picky would like--the sauce is simple yet full of nuanced flavors. Make it the next time you have a brisket!

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High-altitude angel cake (p. 748), Fresh strawberry sauce (Strawberry coulis) (p. 853), and Custard sauce (Creme anglaise) (p. 846)

2011-04-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

As much as I complain about living in the hell that is high-altitude, I have this terrible suspicion that I'm going to end up moving without completing all of the high-altitude recipes, which would be terrible. Frankly, I'm not sure what you would do in regards to the high-altitude recipes if you were trying to cook-through TJOC and lived around sea level. Would you go to a friend's house in the mountains and make 14 cakes? Would you adjust them so they weren't high altitude (which seems bizarre)?

With this in mind (and the fact I've only made 5/14 of the high-altitude section so far) I decided to make High-altitude angel cake (p. 748). I'd never tried my hand at angel cake and it has a reputation for being challenging, so I was nervous.

I measured out 1.5 cups of egg whites. It took about a dozen eggs:

That's a lot of egg white! I added the egg whites, a bit of salt, and some cream of tarter together and beat it until slightly droopy peaks formed. It went from this:

To this:

That's one of my favorite parts of baking. I love seeing huge changes like egg whites changing color. I added in sugar and then folded in vanilla extract, almond extract, and water:

In another bowl I sifted together sifted cake flour and sifted confectioners sugar (that is two sifts, each) and returned it to the sifter:

I sifted the dry ingredients one quarter at a time in to the egg white mixture and folded:

It took quite a bit of folding. Eventually, I (messily) poured the batter in to my cake pan and ran a knife around the middle to burst any bubbles:

Popped it in the oven:

When the cake was finished, I inverted it on top of a funnel until it was completely cooled:

Delicious! The almond extract really helped the flavor of the angel cake "pop". The cake was moist and light, not as tall as I would have liked (although taller than I would expect in Colorado). It was also pretty easy.

I thought that angel food cake is really a great canvas for sweet sauces, so I decided I would make two. The first sauce was Fresh strawberry sauce (Strawberry coulis) (p. 853). Super, super easy.

I took a pint of strawberries, some sugar, and a little lemon juice and popped them in the blender:

And got this:

Finished! I didn't even have to strain it. It was really good, reminiscent of a strawberry Julius at Orange Julius. And certainly easy (much easier than the raspberry coulis, which took forever to strain).

I thought that Custard sauce (Creme anglaise) (p. 846) would be a good use of some of the leftover egg yolks.

I lightly beat egg yolks:

I whisked in sugar and salt. I heated two cups of milk until bubbles started to form around the edges and then slowly whisked the hot milk in to my eggs (always mix hot in to cold, not cold in to hot--you will get scrambled eggs):

And the whole mixture went back on the stovetop. I needed it to heat to 175 degrees. Just like heating anything in Colorado, this step took FOREVER. Honestly, it should have taken about five minutes but instead took around an hour.

(Ignore the messy stovetop! It was a big day of cooking) I was so thankful when it was finally done (well, done after stirring in a little vanilla).

This custard sauce was so delicious that I could (and did) just eat it with a spoon. It was creamy and rich and absolute perfection. I can't wait to make it again at sea level when it should only take a few minutes. Plus it's a great use of egg yolks.

My angel food cake with both sauces:

Delicious! The two sauces together were particularly good.

Do any of you make awesome angel food cakes?

Random facts:

If you go to too high of a temperature with creme anglaise, just 5-10 degrees over, the custard will collapse and you will get grainy curds (On Food and Cooking, p. 93), giving you low quality scrambled eggs (Wikipedia). So make sure you are using a candy thermometer.
Creme anglaise is French for "English cream" (Wikipedia). For some reason, I think it's hilarious that English uses the French version of an English phrase.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

2011-04-11T22:02:00.004-07:00

If you only read for the food, skip this post! If you hate (or don't care about) Harry Potter, skip this post!

My grandparents have lived in Florida for most of my life. I go there with my mom every year for Christmas. This year, my good friend and college roommate Laura started a post-doc in Florida and I was extremely excited to see her--we hadn't seen each other in years. I threw out the idea to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. I knew Laura and I are both Harry Potter fans, the WWoHP just opened (and it's cool to see things before everyone else has), and, as someone who has been to the FL theme parks a zillion times, Islands of Adventure is the only one I've ever truly liked.

So we set off!

If you decide to go to the WWoHP, expect huge crowds. Honestly, we were there when the park opened, went straight to get our ticket to WWoHP, and still didn't get a time to enter until four hours later or so.

This December was surprisingly cold in FL. The day we went to WWoHP was around 30. Were the two of us wearing coats? No. A fleece for Laura and a sweatshirt for me. What do we decide to do while we wait?

Ride water rides. That's right, we rode the first water ride while it was around freezing. Not surprisingly, there were no lines. Honest to god, not a single person in line.

We figured we were already wet, so we might as well go on a second water ride. I men, we couldn't get wetter, right?

Wrong. Very, very wrong. We were so soaking wet that people were pointing at us and laughing.

We were absolutely freezing so we went in to one of the cafes to warm up. They had reasonably priced and warming beer:

Finally it was Harry Potter time! I don't have any great pictures of the terrific moving pictures on the walls of Hogwarts, the terrific sorting hat, all of that. If you are a Harry Potter fan, this is a must-go.

There was just something awesome about seeing the Hogsmeade sign:

Hogwarts in the background!

How perfect were the Beauxbaton girls? I can totally see Fleur.

And Durmstrang, of course. I don't know where they found these guys but they were perfect!

When I went to Islands of Adventure a dozen years ago, when it first opened, there was a dueling dragon ride. That ride has now been rebranded as the Triwizard Tournament ride and it was full of these great signs:

Gorgeous view, right? I felt like I was walking to Hogsmeade. And my butterbeer!

What about the butterbeer?

Both Laura and I were excited about the butterbeer. And this must have shown through because we were asked so many questions about it by random tourists it was amazing. Honestly, I bet we answered a hundred questions. We were like the Butterbeer representatives. Is it hot? (No, you can get it cold or frozen. We stated that we were already frozen so we picked cold). Is it alcoholic? (Sadly, no, it's "beer" like "root beer"). Where can we get it? (Right by the entrances). What does it taste like? (A lot like cream soda and butterscotch). Is it good? (Surprisingly, yes!). For some reason I thought it would be hot but no.

While we were walking around we saw a big sign that proclaimed the Mythos Resturant to have been voted "Best theme park restaraunt" by some theme park magazine. That was good enough for us! Note to future visiters--if you want to go, make sure to make a reservation. We didn't and we waited FOREVER.

Our meals:

These were actually really, really good. And that's a statement I've never been able to make about a theme park meal before. Plus it was relatively cheap. I figure that if I manage not to sign away my first born at a theme park, the day was a win. I've never seen risotto on a theme park menu before so I was impressed.

Super, super fun day. If you love Harry Potter and ever are in Florida, go to Islands of Adventure. It was expensive but totally worth it.

Eggs in a nest (p. 199)

2011-04-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

Eggs in a nest (p. 199) is a truly strange recipe. I stumbled upon a similar recipe in "Silver Spoon" which is usually described to me as being Italy's version of TJOC. I thought--eggs in mashed potatoes? Bizarre. And I still think that. Deliciously bizarre.

I mixed my mashed potatoes, milk, bacon, parsley, and paprika and smeared it in to a greased baking dish:

I made four hollows and broke eggs in to them:

I covered the whole thing with au gratin:

And baked!

I actually ate one egg out of it at this point, thought the eggs might be a little underdone, and popped the rest back in for a few more minutes. I actually recommend taking the eggs out when they are still runny. There is something delicious about the runny egg yolk mixed with the potatoes. If you are of the mentality that slapping an egg on food makes it better (as people from a number of different cultures are), this is going to be an amazing recipe for you. And the bacon-y mashed potatoes were like ambrosia.

New Randomly Selected List--RSL3.5

2011-04-11T16:59:00.002-07:00

The best part about running your own blog is that you can change the rules as you go along. I desperately wanted to start a new randomly selected list but haven't finished the last one, on which I haven't made very impressive progress. But, as Josh pointed out, it's my blog, so I can change things. I started a new randomly selected list. I promise to finish this one.

I decided that I should just combine RSL2 (which I never finished) and RSL3 (which I was 2/3 finished with). Recipes that have asterisks are from RSL2, while those that have ^'s are new to the list (I wanted to get an even 30 recipes).

I used random.org to generate the numbers, throwing out pages that didn't contain recipes.

New rules:
I will finish the list whenever I manage, I never make the deadline anyway.
I can carry between 5-10 unmade recipes to the next list.
There will be thirty recipes on each list.

Any thoughts on this list?

I will update it with a link, the recipe chosen, and the date it was made.

35: Beverages--Flavored iced tea I, Flavored iced tea II, Flavored iced tea III, Herbal tea, Iced hibiscus tea, Hot cocoa^
127, Soups: Jellied soup, jellied tomato soup, jellied beet soup*
139: Stocks and soups: Scotch broth, pepper pot*
147: Stocks and soups--Becker blender gazpacho, white gazpacho, cold cucumber soup, winter fruit soup
148: Stocks and soups--Cherry soup, Ginger melon soup, Rose hip soup, Quick beef stew^
170: Salads--Pear, walnut, and endive salad, melon cups, bean salad, three-bean salad, black bean salad^
201: Egg dishes: Spanish omelet, egg white omelet*
251: Vegetables--Green bean casserole I, Green beans with onions, tomatoes, and dill^
274: Vegetables--Moussaka^
312: Vegetables--Stewed tomatoes, Fried green tomatoes, Tomatoes Creole^
355: Grains--Lentil and rice pilaf with toasted cumin seeds, Spiced vegetable pilaf with cashews, Becker rice and noodle pilaf^
381: Shellfish: Grilled, broiled, or roasted soft-shell crabs, Steaamed blue crabs, Poached (or boiled) hard-shelled crabs, Crab cakes*
401: Fish--Braised whole fish with red wine sauce, poached quenelles, gefilte fish
410: Fish--Fish and chips, marinated deep fried fish, Thai fish cakes
435: Poultry--Chicken tagine with chickpeas
472: Meat--Roasted fillet or tenderloin of beef, grilled fillet or tenderloin of beef (expensive!)
582: Savory sauces--Potato-garlic mayonnaise, Rouille (red pepper garlic mayonnaise)
600: Breads and coffee cakes: Oat bread cockaigne, Buttermilk potato bread, Challah*
615: Bread--Brioche au chocolat, Brioche a tete, Sectioned brioche loaf (going to make this with mom too!)
649: Pancakes, waffles, fritters, and doughnuts: Buckwheat crepes*
660: Pancakes--Cheese croquettes Cockaigne, Salmon croquettes, Chicken or turkey croquettes^
731: Cakes and cupcakes: Strawberry icebox cake, Mocha ice cream cake, Sicilian cassata, Moors' heads (mohrenkopfe)*
748: Cakes and cupcakes--High altitude angel food cake, High altitude coconut angel food cake, High altitude white cake
778: Cookies and bars--Rugalach, Individual nut tarts, jelly tots
791, Icings: Fluffy nut or coconut icing, luscious orange icing, chocolate fudge frosting*
814: Desserts: Pineapple snow, Snow pudding*
816, Desserts: Chocolate mousse, chocolate mousse with gelatin, white chocolate mousse with toasted almonds*
823: Desserts: Cottage pudding, Perisimmon buttermilk pudding, Pumpkin buttermilk pudding, Indian pudding, Sticky toffee pudding*
838: Frozen desserts and sweet sauces: Lemon sherbet, lime sherbet, cranberry sherbet, Ice pops I, Ice pops II, Snow cream*
853: Frozen desserts--Fresh strawberry sauce, Fresh mango sauce, Fresh blueberry sauce

I hope to power through this set! Finally, a RSL that is fairly season appropriate.

Irish soda bread (p. 629) and Crusty soft-center spoon bread (p. 634)

2011-04-10T04:05:00.000-07:00

Most of you know my fear of baking bread at high-altitude. But that worry doesn't apply to quick-breads that don't include yeast, like Irish soda bread (p. 629). I had never had Irish soda bread before, so I had no idea at all what to expect.

I mixed flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt:

In another bowl (or, in this case, a measuring cup) I melted butter and added buttermilk and an egg (less dirty dishes!):

I will say, I differed from the recipe enough that some of you might not consider this Irish soda bread. I don't like raisins and I refused to add them. So you will just have to imagine a cup of raisins in these pictures.

I added the butter mixture to the flour mixture and shaped it in to a mound on a pizza pan:

Apparently you can use a loaf pan but the random mound seemed more interesting. I slashed an x on top and popped it in to the oven:

Delicious. This was super good. It was like a giant biscuit. Josh was in love with it. This raisin-free Irish soda bread is a perfect compliment to any meal. Make sure not to overmix the dough! It should not be kneaded.

I also decided to make Crusty soft-center spoon bread (p. 634). I had been hearing a lot of spoon bread talk on Twitter and had no idea what to expect. Why would you serve bread with a spoon?

I mixed yellow cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in one bowl and an egg and milk in another:

I melted butter in the bottom of my pan and poured in the batter. I then poured milk over the top (what?):

And popped it in the oven:

Strange. The milk mostly sank in. This was much closer to polenta than to cornbread but it was tasty. The spoon bread was rich and smooth. I did not serve it using a spoon.

Random facts:

Wikipedia agrees with me that spoonbread isn't really a bread (they consider it more of a savory pudding)
Soda bread is such named because it includes baking soda rather than yeast (Wikipedia)

I'm sure there are more interesting facts about these two items, I just don't want to find them. Feel free to add!

Swiss steak (p. 482) and Meat pan gravy (p. 546)

2011-04-09T03:12:00.000-07:00

I've always had a bit of a chip on my shoulder about Swiss steak (p. 482) but it's completely due to my mother. Apparently mom got sick on Swiss steak as a child and has not only never been able to eat again but also never wanted to see anyone else eating it (in fact, I think even saying "Swiss steak" makes her a little sick). So I think the only time I've ever had Swiss steak has been in a TV dinner.

The recipe looked simple. I rubbed garlic on a bottom round steak, then pounded as much flour...

...into my steak...

as it would hold.

This was problematic because every time I hit the steak, flour went everywhere. It made a huge mess. Does anyone have a solution for this problem? I will say, the dogs were grateful for the mess, because they were trying to convince me that flour all over the floor was the most delicious thing ever.

I browned the pieces, which wasn't easy because they didn't really fit in the pot:

I added chopped onion, carrot, and celery (no bell pepper due to my hatred of bell peppers). The tomato was optional so I didn't include it, even though Wikipedia insinuates that the tomato makes the Swiss steak.

At this point I realized the whole thing was supposed to go in the oven. Crap. I transferred it to my ovenproof pot and popped it in the oven. It went from this:

To this:

Time for the Meat pan gravy (p. 546). I removed my meat from the pot.

I poured off all but a few tablespoons of drippings and whisked flour into them:

I then added back my pan juices (I didn't have to add anything because I had exactly a cup of pan drippings):

I simmered the gravy until it was thickened:

The whole thing was delicious! The gravy was absolutely perfect. No lumps, the perfect thickness, and easy, what more could you want? I'm usually really intimidated by gravy making so this was good for my self confidence.

The Swiss steak was surprisingly good! It's a good method for using a economical piece of meat but still having a tender end-product. I made mashed potatoes and it was a hearty, cheap, and tasty meal that resulted in terrific leftovers.

Random fact:
"The name does not refer to Switzerland, but instead to the process of "swissing", which refers to fabric or other materials being pounded or run through rollers in order to soften it." (Wikipedia)

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The best North American foods meme!

2011-04-08T14:57:00.002-07:00

The best North American foods meme!

If you do this, post it in a comment (or post the link to yours!)--at least tell me your thoughts!

I will bold the foods I've eaten, strike out the ones I refuse to eat, link to those I've already TJOC'd. I think most of these are in TJOC but I haven't made them yet (which makes sense because TJOC is such an American classic). Don't think about the underlining because I picked that up from the blog I found the meme on...and couldn't figure out how to undo it :)

I did this for the first time two years ago, I thought there would be great changes in the meantime!

1. New York pizza--I would say you can only count this if you've actually eaten it in New York!
2. Hoppin' John--surprisingly good!
3. New Mexico green chile--absolutely impossible to live in CO, land of green chiles, and not have had it.
4. Homemade buttermilk biscuits
5. Tasso--thank you frequent trips to NOLA!
6. Whole Maine lobster
7. Calabash-style shrimp and hushpuppies (I've had hushpuppies but not the shrimp)
8. Kansas City barbecue ribs--in KC, of course :)
9. Hot glazed Krispy Kreme--not a huge fan though--I like yeast doughnuts better than cake doughnuts.
10. San Diego fish tacos
11. Cheese curds (in the holy land of cheese curds...Wisconsin!)
12. Key lime pie (Florida!)
13. Philly cheese steak--I've never had one because I don't like Cheez-Whiz or onions.
14. Memphis pork barbecue sandwich--obviously I've had a pork barbecue sandwich but not a "Memphis" one
15. Lowcountry boil
16. Huckleberry pie
17. New England clam chowder
18. Boiled peanuts--although I'm not sure why...I don't think they are particularly good
19. Buffalo (Bison) burger
20. Eggs Benedict
21. Pastrami on rye
22. Corned beef and cabbage
23. Pancakes with maple syrup
24. Everything bagel with cream cheese and tomato
25. Thin Mints
26. Frito pie -- I don't care for Fritos
27. Potato knish with mustard
28. Silver Queen corn on the cob - good chance I've tried it, but I'm not really up on my various corn varieties (this was the previous blogger's comment but I totally agree)
29. Soft pretzel from a street cart
30. Fresh-picked blueberries--Yum!
31. Sourwood honey
32. State fair funnel cake
33. Chesapeake crab cakes
34. Candied yams
35. Oyster dressing--this IS in TJOC though
36. Snow cone or snowball
37. Wild Alaskan salmon
38. Sautéed more
39. Persimmon pudding
40. General Tso's Chicken
41. Frozen custard
42. Italian sausage with peppers and onions on a hoagie bun
43. Chili dogs--I went through a 15-year no hot dog era so I don't think I ever have had a chili dog
44. Buffalo wings with blue cheese
45. Spam musubi --I should have eaten this in Japan! I certainly saw it
46. Saltwater taffy--both 46 and 47 are thanks to Jennifer and her family :)
47. Fluffernutter sandwich on Wonder Bread
48. Black and white cookie
49. Frybread
50. BLT with thick-cut applewood bacon
51. Baked beans
52. Pumpkin pie
53. Collards with vinegar and Tabasco
54. Tex-Mex fajitas with skirt steak and sautéed peppers
55. Fried green tomatoes--in TJOC
56. Succotash --in TJOC
57. Shrimp and grits (in TJOC)
58. Hot water cornbread--what is this?
59. Barbecue chicken pizza with red onions--I think this is in TJOC
60. Chicken fried steak--my favorite hangover dish!
61. Carnitas burrito
62. Apple butter
63. Geoduck
64. Soft-serve ice cream cone dipped in chocolate shell--A Dairy Queen specialty, although I don't care for the hard shell
65. Pecan pie--my uncle made a particularly delicious version!
66. Catfish supper at a church or fire station--thank you last year's Lent!
67. Oysters Rockefeller--I learned I don't like Oysters Rockefeller when Rachel and I ordered it at the Court of the Two Sisters in New Orleans :)
68. Homemade cranberry sauce--Of course! What American hasn't?
69. Pimento cheese
70. MoonPie washed down with R.C. Cola--I've had both, but not together
71. Pickled watermelon rind
72. Cracker Jacks at the ball game
73. Smithfield ham
74. Meatloaf and mashed potato blue plate special at diner
75. Chicken and waffles
76. Po'Boy with many napkins --in New Orleans
77. Green bean casserole with French's fried onions
78. Stuffed sopaipillas
79. Turducken
80. Shad roe on toast--not on toast
81. Sweet potato casserole with or without marshmallows
82. Cioppino--nope, although I should have had it when I was in San Francisco
83. New York cheesecake
84. Pan-fried river trout
85. Jambalaya
86. North Carolina pig pickin'
87. California rolls--in both the US and Japan
88. Burgoo--in TJOC
89. Penuche fudge
90. Fried peanut butter and banana sandwich
91. Scrapple or livermush
92. Elk medallions in red wine reduction
93. Muscadine grapes
94. Cheeseburger at backyard barbecue
95. Open-face turkey sandwich
96. Chicago deep dish pizza
97. Cobb salad--the least healthy "salad"
98. Peach pie a la mode
99. Macaroni and cheese
100. Root beer float

TOTAL
Eaten: Was 54, now 61
Won't Try: 0
Left to try: 39

And I linked to a ton more that weren't linked to previously! Where are you at?

Slow-cooker vegetarian chili (p. 101)

2011-03-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

Ah, Slow-cooker vegetarian chili (p. 101). I was not looking forward to this recipe. Josh hates beans and I hate bell peppers, plus we both like meat in our chili, so this was not going to be a winner by anyone's count.

Backing up a little, a month ago I joined a co-working space, in hopes that having an office again would motivate me to finish my dissertation and keep my blog updated (both of which are actually occurring, so it was a good choice). While on my free day pass to see if coworking would work for me, everybody was discussing a chili cook-off. Not only did I instantly know a chili cook-off would be the perfect place to pass off the vegetarian chili, I also knew that Cohere would be the perfect match for me.

The chili was easy and would have been even easier if I didn't have the irrational fear that the slow cooker wants to burn my house down (yes, I assign it intent).

I soaked pinto beans overnight:

They didn't seem tender at all. Josh had just told me that he had recently listened to some program on NPR that said beans need to be soaked longer, so, with that in mind but no extra time, I used the quick-soak method on them, too (I'm pretty sure that sentence has an extra comma in it, I apologize to the grammar police in advance).

Finally, the beans were muddy and soaked thoroughly:

While that was happening, I cooked an onion, a green pepper, a red pepper, celery, carrots, jalapenos, and garlic in some olive oil. Since I knew I was serving this to a judging panel I took care in my vegetable cutting for once:

I added chili powder:

I added water and tomato paste and brought it to a boil:

The vegetable mixture, the beans, salt, and more water went in to the slow cooker:

And it cooked for hours. About a half an hour before it was finished I added corn:

It then had to ride with me across town and I had to carry it up a flight of stairs. A slow-cooker full of chili is surprisingly heavy and unwieldy.

So how was it?

I am going to have to steal what one of the judges, Kristin from Feasting Fort Collins, wrote about my chili on the her blog post about the event:

Jessica’s “Hopefully Not Spectacularly Boring” vegetarian chili was a sweet, sweet reprieve. It was spotted with colorful chunky vegetables swimming in a healing mellow broth. It was runny like soup, and in fact, a bit on the boring side, but you can’t blame her for The Joy Of Cookings’ recipe and their neglect to using spices.

I have to admit, I didn't try it. I really hate bell peppers. But I will say that although it was underseasoned it was popular with the vegetarians and almost-vegetarians in the crowd and I got a number of compliments on it.

The coworking space has also been invaluable as a place to unload all the baked goods I need to make for TJOTJOC.

So, instead of random facts, I'm going to close this post with a haiku:

In my opinion
Vegetarian chili
Could really use meat

Pecan puff (p.769)

2011-03-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

I was sort of excited about the Pecan puff (p.769) recipe because they looked the nut balls that we make in my family for Christmas. I like those nut balls and would be happy to have a lot of them to eat.

The recipe was really simple. I beat my butter until soft and added sugar, which I beat until creamy:

I used my old-fashioned but awesome nut grinder to grind up a cup of pecans:

I stirred the pecans and some cake flour into the butter mixture:

I rolled the dough in to balls and popped them in the oven:

Uh oh:

Can't say I know what went wrong with this recipe but the balls flattened out, which they aren't supposed to do. I was supposed to roll them in powdered sugar and pop them back in the oven but that didn't happen because they were too flat. They tasted good--not very sweet but crumbly and full of nutty deliciousness. I'm sure they would be even better had they retained their ball shape.

Random facts:

"Pecans are the soft, fatty seeds of a very large tree..." (On Food and Cooking, p. 511). Does that make them sound appetizing to anyone?
Pecans and walnuts have some of the highest oil and unsaturated fatty acid contents among nuts, which means they oxidize and stale faster than other nuts (OFaC, p. 511)
The pecan tree is the state tree of Texas (Wikipedia)
Cake flour is finely milled wheat flour, which has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour (Wikipedia)

Chicken or turkey pot pie (p. 103) , Poached chicken or turkey (p. 423), Creamed chicken or turkey I (p. 445),& Deluxe butter pie or pastry dough (665

2011-03-24T23:07:00.001-07:00

I've been in a cooking rut lately and wanted to do something new. So I stole Carol Porter's idea and I let my readers pick what I should make out of three categories with five choices each. Chicken or turkey pot pie (p. 103) won the savory category. I'm rather glad because it allowed a lot of other recipes to be knocked out. I will admit right now that I'm no pot pie aficionado and most of my pot pie experience comes from the cheap frozen ones that cost a dollar.

I started by making Poached chicken or turkey (p. 423). I put my chicken parts (I cut up a whole chicken--much cheaper that way), carrots, celery, chicken stock, an onion, and bouquet garni into a stockpot and covered it with water. I simmered it all until the chicken was tender:

The chicken peeled right off the bone:

The poached chicken was deliciously tender. I poach chicken constantly when I make stock and it's great in recipes because it's tender and moist. The recipe was certainly easy and I used the broth for stock but I think I will stick with my chicken stock recipe which yields the same results.

I needed the poached chicken for Creamed chicken or turkey I (p. 445). I melted butter in a saucepan and then added flour, whisking until smooth.

I removed the pan from the heat and whisked in two cups of the cooking broth from the poached chicken:

When that was smooth, I added half-and-half and whisked some more:

I whisked and whisked. The cream mixture got thick:

I must have been tired of taking pictures at this point! I heated butter, added onion, carrots, and celery, and cooked. I then added peas and parsley, along with the cooked chicken.

I realized that TJOC wanted the pot pie to go in to a 9x13 pan. Wait a minute--a 9x13 pan???? I thought they went in pie dishes? That is going to make a TON of pot pie! I only have one 9x13 pan and it was still in use by the strata so I had to divide and conquer. The pies went in to two smaller pans:

I've actually never tried my hand at a pie crust before. This is particularly strange because I come from a family that is full of amazing pie bakers. I've watched crusts get made tons of times but I've never made a crust that had to be rolled out, likely due to my fear of recipes that require me to use a rolling pin. I decided to start with the Deluxe butter pie or pastry dough (pate brisee) (p. 665). I sifted together flour and salt:

I added butter and vegetable shortening:

I started working it over with my pastry blender:

I eventually incorporated ice water and kept pastry blending it.

But when I tried to roll it out, it did not work! The dough stuck to everything, it wouldn't stay in one piece, it was a disaster. I'm sure there is a simple explanation for this.

I tried Frankensteining my crust on the top of the pot pie. Isn't it the most pathetic thing?

I brushed an egg on the top:

And baked my pot pies:

Absolutely shockingly, my pot pie was delicious! The crust was flaky (although I'm sure it would have been flakier had I made it correctly) and the center was creamy and full of tender chicken and perfectly cooked vegetables. I loved it. Unfortunately, it made a massive, massive amount. The recipe says 6-8 servings. Are they kidding? For who? Growing teens? Yes, maybe it would feed 6-8 kids on their high school basketball team. We ended up having to throw quite a bit away because it was a neverending amount! I'm sure I will make this recipe again because I have to make another type of creamed chicken and I have no idea what to do with creamed chicken except make pot pie.

I always thought pot pies had a crust on each side. Is that not true?

Random facts:

Because this crust doesn't include any leavening agents, it doesn't puff up.
While reading Wikipedia, I figured out that I don't think I blended my crust enough, so my flour and fat didn't get properly incorporated. I will have to work on that.

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Country-style ribs baked in barbecue sauce (p. 505)

2011-03-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

I found country-style pork ribs at the grocery store that were perfect for Country-style ribs baked in barbecue sauce (p. 505). I only had two pounds of them, though, so I made a half recipe.

I combined homemade barbecue sauce and orange juice:

Placed my ribs in an ovenproof baking dish (these awesome things are from Tupperwear and have lids!):

And poured the sauce over the top:

They were baked for three hours:

Then turned and baked for one more hour:

The picture is dark but they weren't burned. These were absolutely delicious! They were tender enough to fall off the bone and infused with a perfect barbecue flavor. Of course, after I finished the ribs, I found another set of them in the refrigerator, which meant I could have made a full version of the recipe. If you are intimidated about making ribs at home, start with this incredibly easy recipe.

Ham cakes with pineapple and sweet potatoes (p. 106)

2011-03-23T19:38:00.005-07:00

Ham cakes with pineapple and sweet potatoes (p. 106) was a recipe that seemed very exciting to me but probably seems disgusting to most of the general population. I will have to check my old TJOCs because this seems like a holdover from old editions.

I made the ham mixture from ham loaf but instead of pressing it in to a loaf pan I formed little balls (teehee!):

I sauteed pineapple rings in vegetable oil until they were lightly browned:

This was about as brown as they got:

It was the ham cakes turn to get browned:

I am so intrigued by these ham cakes, it's amazing. I want to eat them instead of hamburgers!

I placed my cakes in the baking dish:

I heated up vegetable oil and cooked two cans worth of sweet potatoes (indication number 100 that this is a 1950's recipe--recipes from the 50's are typically jammed with canned foods), brown sugar, and ground cloves:

I cooked it for a few minutes, then layered the potatoes on and around my ham cakes:

The whole thing was cooked for about a half hour:

I loved these ham cakes. I thought they were absolutely delicious. All the sweetness from the pineapple and the sweet potatoes complimented the ham perfectly. They heated up amazingly. I LOVED the ham cakes and I want to eat them instead of hamburgers. I would make these again in a heartbeat. I WILL make them again.

Josh found them absolutely repulsive in everything from taste to looks. I was happy about that, I mean, more for me! But I think most people would fall on one side or the other. They were definitely different.

I'm thinking ham cakes are from a different era, when people made ham loaves and such. My father says that in his town, hamballs (meatballs made from ham) are a big deal, so I'm thinking that those are from the same time.

So what do you think? Would you eat these ham cakes or does the idea gross you out?

In other news, I'm thinking of putting together a set of menus for different themed parties. Is anyone interested in this idea? I'm definitely doing a Mad Men themed menu.

Ham and vegetable strata (p. 98)

2011-03-23T17:44:00.001-07:00

I knew what to expect, sort of, from Ham and vegetable strata (p. 98). For example, from the sausage and mushroom strata, I know it would make a TON of food. I asked Josh if he would rather have asparagus or broccoli in the strata and he chose asparagus. Frozen asparagus is not easy to find. Out of the 300 types of frozen vegetables there was only one (comparatively expensive) choice for frozen asparagus.

I sauteed chopped onions in vegetable oil. I added chopped ham and asparagus and browned it all:

I cut a loaf of French bread into cubes and layered half of the bread cubes in the casserole dish:

Doesn't seem like enough, right? I then covered the bread with the ham mixture:

Sprinkled cheese over the whole thing:

I topped it with the remaining bread and the rest of the cheese.

I mixed milk, eggs, salt, and pepper:

The egg mixture was poured over the top:

The whole thing was baked (no picture, use your imagination, make it beautiful).

Josh loved it, I thought it was disgusting. I finally figured out my problem with stratas. First off, I believe bread pudding should be sweet, not savory. Secondly, I hate hot sandwiches (excluding grilled cheese and French dips). Something about the heated meat grosses me out. And a strata is just a giant hot sandwich. I'm guessing most people would like this (although I didn't) and it certainly made a lot at a relatively low price. I'm just glad I don't have to make any more stratas.

Lemon pancakes (p. 646) and Additions to pancakes (p. 644)

2011-03-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

Somehow I hit "post" too quickly, so I apologize if you came to this blog and just saw a set of pictures. I hope you made up your own exciting copy to go with it.

On a whim, I decided to make pancakes for dinner. I always forget about the possibility of pancakes, which heat up amazingly, when I'm trying to figure out what is quick to make for dinner. I actually was in the mood for waffles but I don't have a waffle iron.

I wasn't particularly excited about Lemon pancakes (p. 646) but I wanted to knock them off the list. I mixed flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one bowl and sour cream, milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, melted butter, an egg, and vanilla extract in another bowl:

The two were combined:

The batter was thick and bubbly, as TJOC said it would be. I totally missed the part about how each pancake should be about a quarter cup:

I was able to cut the pancake in half. At this point, I turned the pancake-making over to Josh and figured he could cook them more efficiently than I could. I have no picture of the finished product but it looked just like an average pancake.

I'm not big into lemon flavor, so I wasn't in love with these pancakes. They were certainly lemony and they had a strange tang from the sour cream. If you love lemon, make these pancakes. I think they would be really good with whipped cream on top and maybe raspberry sauce (sort of a Melba theme?). I also think they'd be good with vanilla ice cream and wrapped up like a burrito (am I the only one who does that?).

I also decided to make Additions to pancakes" (p. 644). Essentially, I just made pancakes and added raspberries.

The finished product:

Tasty! I like raspberries in pancakes, I think they are my favorite fruit addition. Now that I've worked out the teaspoon/tablespoon misprint in TJOC I'm having a much better success rate with my pancakes.

What do you like to add to pancakes?

Baked French toast (p. 648)

2011-03-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

I don't love French toast. Everyone else seems to but I'm not very enthusiastic about it. Even so, I thought Baked French toast (p. 648) had the potential to be good and Josh was excited about it.

I mixed heavy cream, lots of eggs, honey (my stand in for maple syrup, which I didn't have), sugar (I also didn't have brown sugar, so my flavor profile was fairly compromised), vanilla and salt:

I dipped white bread in it (the recipe even says "white sandwich bread") and laid them in an 8x8 baking pan, layering in to a double layer. It was at this point that I realized it was supposed to sit overnight. Sigh. That's what I get for not reading through the recipe.

I pressed Saran wrap onto the surface and popped it in the fridge:

The next night it had soaked up most of the egg mixture:

Problem 1: The bread didn't want to come out of the pan, it was falling apart.
Problem 2: The bread was not shaped normally anymore

So this is what they looked like when I laid the bread on a cookie sheet:

Attractive, right? Something you would want to make for company, right?

I hoped they would get better with baking.

They did not. I flipped them after about 7 minutes:

Tell me that isn't the most pathetic thing you've ever seen. I mean, come on.

If you are going to make this recipe, I have some suggestions:
1. Don't use white sandwich bread, use a stronger bread like Italian or French bread
2. Grease the heck out of the pan.
3. Use maple syrup and brown sugar because these were rather boring

Honestly, these tasted okay, they were just really ugly and not worth waiting a day to eat. I'm thankful I only have one more French toast recipe to make.

Wikipedia says that some people eat French toast with ketchup. That horrifies me. Has anyone actually done that?
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Chilled grapefruit (p. 226)

2011-03-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

I like the super simple recipes in TJOC because I can knock them out relatively easily when I have the ingredients. Chilled grapefruit (p. 226) was one of these recipes.

I halved a grapefruit, loosened the sections, dusted it with powdered sugar, and sprinkled Grand Marnier over the top.

Personally, I think the liqueur was a bit much. I don't really need a tablespoon of alcohol on my morning grapefruit and it was pretty overwhelming. I also like table sugar rather than powdered sugar, which I think was too sweet. So, although this is an insane recipe (doesn't everyone already know how to eat a grapefruit?), I doubt I will make it again.

Random facts:

The bitter compounds in citrus peel are water soluble while the oils are not. That is why soaking is recommended when you use it. (On Food and Cooking, p. 373)
The grapefruit was originally the hybrid of the sweet orange and pummelo (OFaC, p. 376)

New puppy! Pickles of the month! And contest winner!

2011-03-19T18:40:00.001-07:00

This is a non-cooking post, so if you only read for the cooking, skip this post!

Josh and I added a new family member to the household! About a month ago we got a little papillon puppy that we named Lestat. We figured he is French, obstinate, and naughty, so it's the perfect name.

Our other dog, Duchess, didn't know what to think about him. Duch is only 20 lbs, Lestat was only 4 lbs when we got him:

Now THAT is a cute face!

Lestat thrives on danger:

See, he's already helping me blog:

Yes, I often blog wearing an apron and in that giant mess. I will admit it. It took all of my self control not to bore you with a thousand more doggie pictures.

Josh bought me a Pickle-of-the-month club membership for Christmas. It is, quite possibly, the best gift ever. I LOVE of-the-month clubs (he got me a puzzle subscription a few years ago).

February's pickles were:

Loved them both. The Really Chunky Dills with Garlic were extremely crisp and garlicky. The Pickles and Peppers were incredibly sweet and hot. I love bread and butter pickles and these were bread and butter pickles kicked up a few notches. I loved them. I need more pickles!

I had never heard of Tony Packo's in Ohio before receiving these pickles but between these delicious pickles and their awesome looking menu, I would love to eat there. There are SO many items on the menu that look great. Have any of you been there before? Apparently they were Klinger's favorite restaurant on MASH (slightly before my time) because the actor that played him Jamie Farr, was a huge fan.

Finally, the winner of the $35 CSN GC is....

Drumroll please...

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 21

SHARON! She has been notified. Congrats, Sharon! Hopefully more contests to come!

Pineapple glaze (p. 583) and Fish loaf (p. 106)

2011-03-13T21:58:00.001-07:00

I had (yet another) ham, which meant (yet another) glaze. I thought Pineapple glaze (p. 583) looked promising.

Glazes are always easy. I mixed chopped pineapple, brown sugar, and ginger together:

And slopped it on the ham:

As you can see, a lot of the pineapple fell off, which probably insinuates that I did not chop it finely enough. This wasn't my favorite glaze, although I did like its sweetness. It was okay but nothing special and it wasn't as good as some of the other TJOC glazes. There also didn't seem to be enough of it--if I made it again, I would use a double batch.

There are very few foods I absolutely will not eat. In fact, I can only think of one--canned tuna. I hate tuna. I hate the taste, I hate the smell, I hate everything about it. Fresh tuna at a sushi restaurant? Delicious. In a can? Nope. So when I saw Fish loaf (p. 106) I knew I was going to have to make it for somebody else.

Like ham loaf, this is another super retro recipe. I've never even heard of anyone making a fish loaf. Even so, I would stick with the ham loaf for your Mad Men party because this might gross people out. Even the idea is strange.

I tore up a few slices of white bread, threw them in the food processor, and pulsed it so crumbs were produced:

I added an onion and celery and mixed:

I then added butter and an egg. At this point I started to worry that the food processor may be too small.

I added in several cans of tuna, lemon juice, oregano, red pepper sauce, salt, and pepper. I packed it all in to a buttered loaf pan:

And baked it:

I certainly didn't try it. Josh said it was strangely soft. He wasn't a big fan. I think the bread made it sort of mushy. It looked much better the next day after sitting (far improved texture) and Josh said it was okay on bread with mayonnaise. I think tartar sauce also would have improved it. A fish meatloaf just seems bizarre to me.

Has anyone ever made a fish loaf before? Would you eat a slice of this one?

Fruit sodas (p. 39) and Citrus juice medley (p. 38)

2011-03-13T21:04:00.002-07:00

The "beverages" chapter in TJOC is just not very exciting to me. I really feel like I'm just powering through them. Maybe it's because I don't require much in the way of fancy drinks. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out who I'm going to pawn the "Lemonade for 100" off on when I get to that recipe.

I was hopeful about Fruit sodas (p. 39). I combined club soda, pineapple juice, and sugar syrup:

It was tasty! It was pretty close to soda, which I liked. I really love club soda--and I drink a lot of it--so that was great. I think I would rather have another juice, maybe cranberry or grape juice or something. And I think it would be absolutely perfect for juices that are really sweet (too sweet for me, at least) like apricot nectar.

I also made Citrus juice medley (p. 38), which Josh got to enjoy. I combined grapefruit, lemon, and orange juices with sugar syrup:

It was REALLY sour. If you like sour drinks, this is the one for you. If you don't, steer clear. I recommend using sugar syrup instead of sugar in these drinks, since sugar doesn't dissolve very well in cold liquids.

There really isn't a whole lot to say about these drinks, they are juice blends, that's that, right?

Yellow cupcakes (p. 737) and Black bottom cupcakes (p. 738)

2011-03-10T23:41:00.000-07:00

When I bake, I prefer to bake as much as possible at once. My thought process is as follows: if I'm going to make the whole kitchen a giant mess, might as well make more items and only have to clean once. So since I already knew I was going to make Yellow cupcakes (p. 737)--might as well make Black bottom cupcakes (p. 738) too!

I beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth:

I then beat in an egg and added chocolate chips:

In another bowl, I mixed flour, sugar, non-alkalized cocoa powder*, and salt:

I added water, vegetable oil, distilled white vinegar (strange!), and vanilla:

I filled each cup about half full with the chocolate batter mixture:

I placed a heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture in the middle of each cupcake:

They were then baked:

These were good! The middle was creamy and tsty, the different types of chocolate (chips and cake) lent a note of interest, and I really liked the idea of a filled cupcake that didn't take much extra effort. The cupcakes were also really moist and remained moist for quite a while. They were so rich they didn't even need to be frosted! Perfect. I really recommend these.

Yellow cupcakes (p. 737) isn't a very exciting recipe. I essentially just made Lightning cake and poured the batter in to a cupcake pan.

I whisked together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. I added eggs, milk, and vanilla, beat the batter for a few minutes, and then beat in some butter.

The batter was delicious. I poured the batter in to cupcake cups (I use a cookie scoop, it makes it much more simple):

And baked:

I actually have more pictures of this process but they don't seem very important. It's so frustrating to me how differently the cupcakes rise. I'm still not dealing with the altitude and baking well. These cupcakes were good but nothing special. In fact, they reminded me of boxed mix cupcakes, which isn't a real compliment. I don't know if I'd bother with this recipe again.

Random facts:

*Non-alkalized cocoa powder: Alkalized cocoa powder is referred to as "Dutched". It has been treated with an alkaline substance and raises the pH of the cocoa. It results in a cocoa "with a milder flavor and darker color" (On Food and Cooking, p. 705-706).
If you use alkalized and non-alkalized cocoa interchangeably in recipes, it can really screw them up.

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Hummus (Chickpea and tahini dip) (p. 74)

2011-03-08T23:51:00.000-07:00

Ah, Hummus (Chickpea and tahini dip) (p. 74). There are about a thousand variations of hummus and I wasn't very impressed by TJOC's previous hummus recipe (Half moon hummus), which was far too lemony for my liking.

I took my (canned) chickpeas, combined them in the food processor with lemon juice (way less lemon juice than the HMH recipe, thankfully), tahini, garlic, and salt:

Drizzled a little olive oil on top, sprinkled a little paprika, and done!

This was a tasty, simple hummus. Was it my favorite hummus recipe ever? No. But it was super easy. I think it would be a good base recipe for creative cooks--I see myself adding a ton more garlic or black olives or something. It's nice to have hummus on hand since it's a nice, filling snack. And it always seems like a waste to buy since it's so easy to make.

Any favorite hummus recipes out there? Favorite add-ins?

Random facts:

Hummus comes from the Arabic word for chickpea (Wikipedia). Simple right?
Chickpeas have much more oil than most other legumes (On Food and Cooking, p. 491)
Chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same thing. The word "chickpea" comes from the Latin name and "garbanzo" comes from the Greek name (On Food and Cooking, p. 491)

Chocolate icebox cookies (p. 776)

2011-03-08T23:21:00.000-07:00

I have been eying the giant list of icebox cookies for some time. I know exactly why they haven't been made, too. I really hate when I have to refrigerate cookie dough. Usually it means I'm in the mood to cook when I start but then have to take a break and I'm usually not in the mood to bake when I need to finish the cookies. This is also why I never make sugar cookies.

Even so, there are seven icebox cookie recipes in TJOC. I read them to Josh, he picked the chocolate chip version which requires tiny, expensive chocolate chips. Instead of making his choice (much to his dismay), I decided to make Chocolate icebox cookies (p. 776). Same thing, right? RIGHT?

So I mixed flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl I beat butter and sugar until fluffy, finally adding in an egg, melted chocolate, brandy, and some vanilla.

I rolled the whole thing up with parchment paper and popped it in the fridge:

The dough was really sticky and did not like rolling up. The next day it was extremely hard. I cut it in to slices:

And baked them:

These are odd cookies. They are thin and crisp. I think they would be an absolutely delicious ice cream sandwich. This particular version was chocolate-y without being overboard. The addition of brandy was excellent--it added some depth to the chocolate. That all being said, I hate making the dough and then having to finish the cookies hours later so I doubt that icebox cookies will ever be at the top of my list of favorite cookie recipes.

Caramel corn (p. 866)

2011-03-08T20:56:00.001-07:00

I've been looking at the Caramel corn (p. 866) recipe for a long time, because it is on the randomly selected list. It is the reason my mom originally gifted me the magic popcorn pot that always makes perfect popcorn. You have to make caramel corn with "real" popcorn, not microwave popcorn, because microwave popcorn is too fragile. I am always going to be grateful to this recipe, because it reminded me how far superior stovetop popcorn is to microwaved popcorn.

I melted butter in a saucepan and then added light brown sugar and water. I brought it up to a boil:

I kept it cooking, without stirring, until it was to the soft-ball stage. I then poured it over my popcorn:

Amazingly delicious. Almost unbelievably good. It would have been even better with nuts, though, so I recommend mixing nuts into it. I also recommend spreading the whole thing out on parchment or wax paper because it was really difficult to chisel off of the bowl. But homemade caramel corn definitely figures in to the "win" category. It was super easy, too, so if you are afraid of making candy, don't let that worry you.

Instant coffee (p. 31) and Kai (p. 37)

2011-03-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

I know absolutely nothing about coffee. I swear that I am the only person in the world who doesn't know how to make coffee (every time I try is a failure). So Instant coffee (p. 31) seemed right up my alley. I took my Folger's crystals, added boiling water, and voila!

Coffee. Sort of. Is that what coffee is supposed to look like? I thought it tasted okay but, as I said before, I don't know anything. So why did I make instant coffee?

I've been intrigued by Kai (p. 37) for a while. It looked good and I wanted to try it but I needed coffee. I have lots of coffee drinking friends and family but I never thought about Kai when I was around them (and most people don't have heavy cream and malted milk powder on hand--other than me, of course). It occurred to me that I could use instant coffee! So that's what I did.

I mixed sugar, malted milk powder, and unsweetened cocoa powder together. It was challenging because the malted milk powder was lumpy for some reason:

I microwaved some heavy cream and added my sugar mixture:

Hmmm. Not promising.

I then added my hot, strong coffee.

It was delicious! The only way I can enjoy coffee is if it's creamy and sweet and the chocolate was delicious. It was a real pick-me-up up, too, due to the double dose of caffeine (cocoa and coffee) and all the sugar. TJOC says it was used by the British Royal Navy to keep men awake on night duty and I totally believe that. Next time I just need to iron some of the chunks out!

Random facts:

Instant coffee comes from freeze-drying or spray-drying brewed coffee beans (Wikipedia)
"High-vacuum freeze-dried coffee was developed shortly after World War II, as an indirect result of wartime research into other areas. The National Research Corp. was formed in Massachusetts as a process-development company employing high-vacuum technology. It developed high-vacuum processes to produce penicillin, blood plasma and streptomycin for US military use. As the war ended, NRC looked to adapt its processes for peacetime uses. It formed Florida Foods Corp. to produce concentrated orange juice powder, and originally sold its product to the United States Army. That company later changed its name to Minute Maid." (Wikipedia). Fascinating!
In some countries, instant coffee is made with hot milk rather than hot water (Wikipedia). I think I should make it that way. Wikipedia also points out that it is nearly impossible to screw up instant coffee, making it the perfect coffee for me.

Shandy (p. 53) and English muffin pizza (p. 182)

2011-03-07T22:10:00.001-07:00

Oh, the Shandy (p. 53). Something about the shandy just doesn't sound delicious to me. I mixed lager (I choose delicious Miller High Life, the Champagne of Beers) with ginger beer:

Josh had to drink several of these, since it seemed like a waste to throw the extra ginger beer and MHL away. He actually rather liked the shandy. He thought the MHL leveled out the odd flavor of the ginger beer. I thought it was awful, which is likely due to my hatred of ginger beer. Apparently you can also use Sprite in a Shandy which sounds even more awful to me.

While Josh was enjoying his shandy, I made him an English muffin pizza (p. 182).

I took an English muffin, toasted it in the broiler, spread it with chili sauce (you can use catsup--CATSUP!), sprinkled oregano on it, topped it with grated cheddar, poured olive oil over it, and popped it back in the broiler:

Until it turned out like this:

Believe it or not, Josh said it was good and he'd happily eat it again. He thought it needed a little extra "punch" like a couple of pieces of pepperoni or bacon but he thought it was overall rather tasty. I will say it was certainly easy and made out of stuff we already had on hand, which was nice.

Random facts:

Apparently, shandies can be made with lemonade or cider too (Wikipedia). I love cider, so maybe I would like a cider shandy more.
Various versions of the shandy seem to be popular all over the world, especially in Germany (seriously paraphrasing Wikipedia)

So, readers, have you had a shandy before? What was the mixture?

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Brunswick stew (p. 432)

2011-03-07T17:41:00.001-07:00

My reasoning for making Brunswick stew (p. 432) was different than my usual rather random recipe selection. Carol Porter is a newspaper columnist and blogger with this truly novel (and awesome) idea that she would post cookbooks, and then recipes from those cookbooks and let her readers decide which cookbooks she would cook from and which recipes she would cook out of each cookbook. An old edition of TJOC was one of her cookbooks of the week and Brunswick Stew was one of the winners. I thought it would be fun to see if the new editions version was the same as the older edition.

I've previously put off this recipe because it is SUPER long. If you have a copy of TJOC handy, look it up. It's not very welcoming.

To start, I browned chicken pieces. Now, TJOC insinuates that you should use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces. The skin gets soggy and I hate digging around in a stew, trying to cut away from the chicken bone. I boned out all the chicken (thighs) and took the skin off.

I cooked onions and celery until they were just tender:

I added the chicken back into the pot, along with lima beans, tomatoes, barbecue sauce (homemade, of course), tomato puree, chicken stock, garlic, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and ground red pepper. It was at this point that I found out Josh hates lima beans. Now, I know most people seem to not like them but Josh HATES them. When he ate the finished product, he ended with a little pile of lima beans on the side of his dish.

The whole thing cooked for almost an hour. When the chicken was tender, I added in corn:

The whole thing cooked for about ten more minutes and I seasoned it with a few drops of Tabasco, a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, and a little more salt.

How was it?

Surprisingly good! I thought the stew was a bit odd because it did have a strong barbecue flavor at first but the flavors really mellowed (and melded) as it sat in the fridge. The stew was hearty and really tomato-y between the canned tomatoes, the barbecue sauce, and the tomato puree. It was absolutely divine with a few pieces of crusty bread. I would absolutely make this again. Although it looks like a really long recipe, it's quite easy and most of the ingredients are items you probably have on-hand. And give the poor lima bean another chance--it has a nice, creamy texture in the stew and is probably better than you remember.

Random facts:

There is a debate about where Brunswick stew actually originated with Brunswick County, Virginia, Brunswick, North Carolina, and Brunswick, Georgia all throwing their metaphorical hats in the ring (Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, p. 72)
Squirrel is the traditional meat in many Brunswick stews (Wikipedia, OCAFD, TJOC)
Brunswick stew is traditionally a side for barbecues (OCAFD, p. 72). That would account for the barbecue sauce!

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Help me pick recipes to make in the next month!

2011-03-03T21:19:00.004-07:00

I have several blog posts in the hopper as well as announcing the winner of the contest--everything will be updated by Sunday.

This is a repost from the TJOTJOC Facebook page (become a fan!).

I totally stole this idea from Carol Porter (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carol-Porter/187387317960673), who had her fans vote for a 1949 edition of TJOC recipe that she would make. I thought "Great idea!". So which of these would you like to see me make? Have you made any of these?

You can vote three recipes: one sweet, one savory category 1, and one savory category 2.

Either vote here or on the FB page. PLEASE VOTE!

Voting will close March 19th at midnight and I will make all three recipes within the next two weeks.

Savory category 1:

1. Chicken pot pie (p. 103). I've never made a pot pie from scratch, it seems intimidating.

2. Jellied tomato soup (p. 127). Or any of the other jellied soups. It seems so gross!

3. Corn dogs (p.185). I love corn dogs. Scared to make them though.

4. Eggs in a nest (p. 199). Eggs in mashed potatoes--weird.

5. Mousaaka (p. 274). Something I eat at Greek restaurants and something I've never considered trying to make.

Savory category 2:

1.Vanilla coconut shrimp (p.388). Sounds like a terrible combination.

2. Thai fish cakes (p.410). This recipe could be awful, could be delicious.

3. Sesame chicken (p. 432). A guilty pleasure at the most Americanized Chinese restaurants.

4. Pork braised in milk (p. 501). Odd.

5. Puttanesca sauce (p. 564). Streetwalker's sauce!

Sweet:

1. Oatmeal cake (p. 721). It says it has a loyal following.

2. Madeleines (p. 739). I actually have a madeleine pan now!

3. Ginger thins (p. 770). This recipe says it makes 300 tiny cookies.

4. Butter pecan ice cream (p. 833). It might be time to make ice cream.

5. Curried apricot chutney (p. 950). Interesting, right?

**If this goes well, it's going to become a regular feature. I like the idea!

Daiquiri (p. 60), Gin fizz (p. 56), Moscow mule (p. 58),and Cuba libre (p. 60)

2011-02-27T23:34:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be a great idea to make Josh and myself a few drinks to enjoy during "The Amazing Race" to enjoy along with our delicious meal. Surprisingly, I am making great progress through the Cocktails chapter and I don't have a huge amount of drinks left to make.

I made myself a Daiquiri (p. 60). I shook light rum, lime juice, and sugar syrup together with ice, then strained them in to a chilled glass:

Odd. First, I don't really understand these drinks that have a couple ounces of liquid in the bottom of a glass. This drink was STRONG and way, way too sour for me. Plus I thought daiquiris usually had fruit involved. This daiquiri was fruit-free.

Josh's first drink was a Gin fizz (p. 56). I shook gin, lime juice, and sugar syrup (oddly, the exact same ingredients as the daiquiri, except for rum versus gin) with ice, poured it in to a glass, and then filled the glass with club soda:

Josh liked it. He thought the club soda really rounded out the flavor, nicely balancing the sweet and sour.

I made myself a Moscow mule (p. 58). I actually had completely forgotten about this drink and it took me quite a while to figure out what the heck it was. I poured vodka and lime juice in a highball glass (TJOC also recommends a mug [a mug?? Really??]), filling the glass with ginger beer.

I really don't like ginger beer. What a strange drink this was. It was like drinking a big glass of sour beer with a vodka chaser. I can't say I will sign on for this drink again.

I thought Josh would actually like a nice Cuba libre (p. 60). The drink was incredibly simple--rum, Coke, and lime juice poured over ice:

Josh was a big fan. It's essentially a rum and Coke with lime, so if that sounds good to you, order one the next time you go out.

These posts are really hard for me because how much can you say about a cocktail? I don't know how people write entire blogs about alcohol.

Random facts:

Ginger beer peaked in popularity in the early nineteenth century and was seen as healthy due to ginger's reputation as a digestive aid (Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, p. 259)
Ginger beer seems to be alcoholic while ginger ale is not (personal observation)
Some rum is fermented from molasses. (On Food and Cooking, p. 765). I totally did not know that
A gin fizz becomes a "golden fizz" if you add an egg yolk (Wikipedia). I think that sounds repulsive

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Spinach or watercress dressing (p. 573), Creamy caraway dressing (p. 577), and Green goddess dressing (p. 576)

2011-02-24T22:00:00.001-07:00

I have gotten to the point where I have already made most of the salad dressings that actually look good to me, some of them many, many times. The dressings that are left over tend to be...odd. But I thought I would knock some of them out.

Josh had eyed the Spinach or watercress dressing (p. 573) recipe for quite a while. I have no idea why, I thought it looked exceptionally strange. Why is there chopped spinach in a salad dressing? It was certainly easy.

I whisked lemon juice, tarragon vinegar (the tarragon vinegar is a bit of a theme, I found a bottle of it on clearance at the grocery store), salt, and pepper together:

I added olive oil in a steady stream while whisking:

I stirred in my two cups spinach leaves, finely (or finally) chopped:

It was a very strange salad dressing. Very strange. It tasted like it already had the salad included, rather than just being dressing. And I think that TJOC can be too heavy handed with the olive oil--but I feel that way about all of their vinaigrettes too. I liked the bright green color.

I have been interested in the Creamy caraway dressing (p. 577) for quite a while. Caraway is such a strong flavor that I couldn't imagine it in a salad dressing. I whisked together sour cream, lemon juice, caraway seeds, coarse-grain mustard, shallot, and thyme in a bowl, and then added a bit of olive oil, while whisking:

The caraway was certainly bold in the dressing. It reminded me of eating pumpernickel bread in salad dressing form (I'm guessing that doesn't make you hungry!). That being said, it was pretty good. TJOC recommends using it on potato salad and I think that could be really interesting and different. In fact, I might have to experiment with that in the future. I also think it could be a delicious spread on tiny rye bread slices for a cocktail party--especially with a little cucumber on top.

I have very little experience with Green goddess dressing (p. 576) outside of dipping meat/seafood in it at The Melting Pot.

I minced anchovies. Or, more accurately, attempted to mince. They really sort of dissolved.

Appetizing, right? I mixed them with garlic, mayonnaise, sour cream, minced chives, parsley, lemon juice, tarragon vinegar, salt, and pepper:

The dressing was good but you better like the fishy, salty taste of anchovies, because it comes through loud and clear in this dish. I didn't really like it but Josh thought it was extremely good. I think green goddess works better as a dip than as a dressing.

So, readers, what are your favorite salad dressings? Are any of these three on your list?

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Grilled or broiled fruit II (p. 214) and Ham loaf (p. 106)

2011-02-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

I love pineapple but I'm becoming increasingly allergic to it. The only light at the end of the tunnel is that I can usually eat canned pineapple and cooked pineapple. So cooked, canned pineapple should be absolutely fine, right? Plus, I really like cooked pineapple! So I was looking forward to Grilled or broiled fruit (p. 214).

I took my pineapple rings, arranged them in a shallow baking pan, and sprinkled them with salt. I omitted the cinnamon because I don't like cinnamon. Into the oven they went to be broiled:

I checked them after a few minutes. Nothing. So I turned them all. I checked them a few minutes later. Still not done.

A minute later, they looked like this:

1. This proves how unevenly my oven cooks.
2. A lot can happen in a minute!
3. I'm pretty sure most of the pineapple has been rendered inedible.

Crap. The ones I could eat were kind of dry and rubbery--not as delicious as I expected. I don't think I would bother with this recipe more than the one more time I have to (Grilled or broiled fruit I).

I have a special attraction to the TJOC recipes that are obviously from another time. Ham loaf (p. 106) is definitely one of those recipes. Have you ever eaten a ham loaf? I'm guessing no. Have you ever eaten a meat based loaf other than the simple meatloaf? Unless you spend a lot of time in French areas that serve terrines (which I love) the answer is undoubtedly "no".

I was optimistic though. I love ham. I love loafs.

I pulsed two cups of diced ham in a food processor:

I mixed my ham with dry bread crumbs, eggs, and Dijon mustard. I let it stand to blend the flavors , then smashed it in to a buttered loaf pan:

It seemed too short when I filled up the whole loaf pan, so I scrunched it over so it was taller. I baked it until firm:

I loved this bizarre recipe. Not only would it be perfect for that "Mad Men" party you are throwing, it was delicious! Ham, mustard, loaf, yum! It was salty and perfect. It was good both by itself (as I ate it) or in a sandwich (as Josh ate it). And who doesn't want another way to use up ham? Eventually, you get sick of ham sandwiches and omelets.

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Chocolate cheesecake (p. 745) and Crumb crust (p. 667)

2011-02-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

I read Josh a long list of cakes he could choose from for his birthday cake and he choose Chocolate cheesecake (p. 745). I wasn't particularly excited about this choice since I'm not a big chocolate fan, but it wasn't my birthday. I love cheesecake, though, and my previous TJOC cheesecake attempt had turned out perfectly.

TJOC says to make a Crumb crust (p. 667) using chocolate wafer cookies. I imagine that chocolate wafer cookies are like Nilla wafers but are chocolate instead of vanilla. I couldn't find those anywhere. I decided that instead of scouring Fort Collins for the correct cookies I would just make the crust using Nilla wafers.

I smashed the Nilla wafers in to crumbs using a rolling pin, which worked really well. It was actually rather fun to smash the wafers.

I write out a list of what I am making to keep myself on task when I have big cooking days. If you decide to lay your notebook on the stovetop, make sure you don't accidentally turn on the wrong burner, charring the notebook. Whoops! I'm lucky it didn't start on fire.

Finally, I had my cup and a half of cookie crumbs:

I mixed the cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted cooled butter.

The mixture was very crumbly and difficult to convince to stick in the pan. I also couldn't figure out if I was supposed to just line the bottom of the pan or the bottom and sides. I decided to line half the sides (an odd choice, I realize). I figured that would at least let us know which was correct.

I baked the crust for a few minutes:

So, crust finished, time for the cheesecake.

I beat a few packages of cream cheese until smooth:

I added sugar and vanilla to the cream cheese, beat until soft and creamy, and then added three eggs, beating after each addition. It's really important not to overbeat at any stage because beating causes air to be incorporated in to the batter, which can cause the finished cheesecake to crack.

Two cups of sour cream and some unsweetened cocoa powder were then mixed in to the cream cheese mixture:

I stirred semisweet chocolate (it seemed to me that bittersweet would make the cake way too bitter) with boiling water until the chocolate was melted and smooth. This took a surprisingly long time.

The chocolate was added to the cream cheese mixture and beat until blended. The whole concoction was poured into the crust:

The cake cooked for about 45 minutes. I let it sit in the oven with the door propped open (much easier if you have a gas stove than an electric stove) for another hour.

The cake was cooled on the counter and then refrigerated for a day:

The cake was truly beautiful. And it was chocolatey. In fact, it was CHOCOLATEY. If you love intense chocolate flavor, this is the cheesecake for you (meaning, it was not the cheesecake for me). I'm actually really glad I made the wrong crust because I think it would have been over the top with the correct chocolate one. It also had a strong sour cream bite to it, which I thought was odd. I think I would have liked more cream cheese and less sour cream in the cake. Even so, it's always rewarding to see such a beautiful cheesecake. And, no, I still don't know what I was supposed to do with the crust.

Random facts:

Cheesecakes are considered a custard (On Food and Cooking, p. 97).

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Herb or roasted garlic muffins (p. 635)

2011-02-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

Those of you who like reading about my cooking mishaps, this is a post for you!

I knew that we needed some sort of bread because Josh is a carbophile and it was his birthday meal. I've often eyed the Herb or roasted garlic muffins (p. 635), even going so far as the roast the garlic and forget what I meant to use it for a couple times. I like savory muffins much more than sweet muffins. I honestly think that Red Lobster's cheddar muffins are one of the most delicious things in chain restaurants today (although I unfortunately don't like most of the other offerings at RL).

In one bowl I mixed flour, baking powder, and salt. In the other I mixed eggs, cream, and melted butter:

I combined the two and folded in a head of roasted garlic (peeled and mashed) and some lemon zest:

It's imperative not to overmix when you are making muffins or they will get tough.

I spooned the batter into the muffin pans and popped them in the oven. At this point I noticed a problem.

I had forgot to add the 2/3 cup of sugar.

That's a lot of sugar to forget. It seems like that could be the difference between success and failure for a recipe. I had thought the batter seemed too dry, which is why I was re-reading the recipe. The sugar being left out wouldn't make the mixture seem dry but certainly could be a problem.

The muffins had only been in the oven for a minute or two so I took them back out, dumped them all back in to the bowl, and added the sugar and vanilla:

I mixed them again. I wasn't optimistic about how the muffins were going to turn out--this was a lot of dough abuse. In my defense, I was making a cake, muffins, ham, glaze, carrot puree, and salad dressing, so there was a lot going on.

I spooned them back in to the muffin trays and cooked them for about 17 minutes:

Perfection. Perfect outside and inside:

Believe it or not, they actually turned out quite good, which I would never have expected. They were still light and flaky (probably not quite as light and flaky as they would have been but very acceptable). They weren't particularly sweet and I think it would have been a disaster without the sugar. The roasted garlic was a nice undertone and they were terrific with the ham (although I think they would be even better with a pork roast). Next time I make them, I might add a little cheese.

I think this is a testament to why you should try to save screwups instead of just throwing them away. Sometimes you can rescue a mistake.

Random info:

Muffins stale quickly because the small amount of fat can't protect the starch (On Food and Cooking, p. 554). This is probably why if you add the higher amount of fat that TJOC calls for (a stick of butter rather than a half stick) and a higher fat milk product (cream rather than milk) the muffins last for much longer.

Bday1: Japanese steakhouse ginger dressing (p. 575), Carrot puree (p. 266), and Mustard glaze (p. 583)

2011-02-20T15:41:00.001-07:00

I decided to make a big meal for Josh's birthday, so there will be three posts in total.

When planning the meal, Josh and I both love ham, so that was an easy choice for the protein. It also seemed like a nice salad and some sort of vegetable, some sort of carbohydrate, and a cake would be a great idea.

I have been incredibly intrigued by Japanese steakhouse ginger dressing (p. 575) in TJOC for a long time. I love Japanese steakhouses. I've eaten at at least a dozen of them, in both Japan and the US (oddly different and the same). My favorite American teppenyaki joints are Ohana Steakhouse in Des Moines (I LOVE their scallop sauce) and Sapporo Steakhouse in Daytona Beach, Florida. I've eaten at those two many, many, many times and they never disappoint.

I combined celery, carrots, peanut oil, rice wine vinegar, ginger, onion, sugar, soy sauce, catsup, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce in my beautiful Vita-Mix blender:

Final product:

On some lettuce:

This dressing was EXACTLY like the ginger dressing at most of the Japanese steakhouses that I've been to in the US. In fact, it was a dead ringer. The dressing was good--it had a light kick due to the ginger and hot pepper sauce but was fairly sweet with a nice peanuty undertone. Plus, even with the giant list of ingredients, it was super simple. Throw everything in to a blender or food processor and finished.

I had high hopes for Carrot puree (p. 266) because a carrot/mashed potato mix sounded absolutely amazing. I love carrots. I love potatoes. What could be better?

I placed a half pound of sliced potatoes in water and boiled them for about five minutes:

I added sliced carrots and cooked until the vegetables were tender. The potato/carrot mixture was then drained, returned to the pan, and mashed. I added heavy cream, salt, butter, and pepper:

Absolutely delicious. The mash was creamy and smooth. The carrots elevated the dish from simple mashed potatoes and the cream made it seem slightly decadent. I loved the carrot puree and will absolutely make it again. It was also amazing leftover.

I decided to make a Mustard glaze (p. 583) for the spiral sliced ham I was making. I mixed brown sugar, mustard, and honey:

Slathered it on the ham:

This glaze was probably my favorite so far. The sweet mustard flavor complimented the ham perfectly. I saved the glaze as a dipping sauce and it was great for days. I also really like easy glazes and this one was incredibly simple and made with stuff I already had on hand.

Random fact:

Robert Timothy French started work for a spice merchant at 21. When he was 60, French bought a flour mill and bakery with his son, starting the RT French Company, where they sold spices, including powdered mustard with turmeric. They introduced their French's cream salad mustard in 1904 (The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, p. 398)

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (p. 768)

2011-02-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

I have a never-ending love for oatmeal cookies. When I was a child, my mother and I used to make them constantly. In fact, in Campfire in elementary school we were supposed to write down all the ingredients and steps of a recipe from memory, and then compare it to the real recipe. Everyone's recipes were extremely wrong--except mine. I forgot baking soda and my temperature was slightly off. That's how often we made them.

I was optimistic about Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (p. 768) because although I know that dried fruit is delicious in oatmeal cookies, Josh disagrees. My previous TJOC oatmeal cookies had been pretty good, although I like my oatmeal cookies cakey rather than crisp, so they weren't ideal.

The recipe was essentially the same as the one linked above except it had no cinnamon or nutmeg (hooray! I don't like cinnamon!) and used chocolate chips instead of raisins:

They were flat but not as flat as the original oatmeal cookies.

They were good! They also stayed soft, which was nice. I still think they needed nuts to be truly tasty but I deferred to Josh's hatred of nuts in cookies because I knew I wouldn't eat them all.

So what do you think? What do you like in your oatmeal cookies? Raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, other?

Random facts:

Oatmeal is common in Scottish cooking because oats were far more suited to the wet growing season in Scotland than corn or wheat (Wikipedia). Haggis, anyone?
Oats can be eaten cooked or raw (Wikipedia). I guess I knew this but I never thought about it. I eat raw oats in granola or on bread relatively often.
There is no actual Quaker connection for Quaker Oats. The original marketers at QO thought the image of a Quaker man holding a scroll that read "pure" represented "integrity, quality, and honesty" (Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink (p. 487).

Beef Stroganoff (p. 476)

2011-02-07T22:05:00.001-07:00

I've been putting off making Beef stroganoff (p. 476) because if I have a nice steak, I want to eat it as a steak, not as stroganoff. I've had a lot of mediocre stroganoffs in my life and I'm pretty sure I've never had a particularly good version of it. I happened to get a great steak on clearance and I decided to make a half recipe of the stroganoff so I could knock it off the list.

I sliced the steak into thin strips, seasoned them, and browned the meat in a little olive oil:

Watch it closely--thin strips of meat brown REALLY quickly. I removed the meat to a plate:

I melted butter in the pan and added a chopped onion. Once the onions were softened, I added sliced mushrooms:

I added two cups of beef stock, a little bit of Cognac (too good of Cognac for this dish, all I had was Courvoisier) and simmered it for about ten minutes. I finally added sour cream, Dijon mustard, and a little more salt and pepper.

I added the meat back in and cooked the whole concoction until it was heated through:

I didn't have any egg noodles for some reason, so my beef stroganoff sat on top of elbow macaroni.

I don't know how I felt about this dish. I didn't love it. It was okay, sort of boring. I thought the sauce needed to be a lot thicker. The beef was extremely delicious and tender. It heated up extremely well.

Random facts:

Beef stroganoff became popular in the 1940's, partially due to it's ability to be kept in a chafing dish (which was a newly popular invention), (Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, p. 292)
The first major wave of Russian immigrants to the US followed the Russian Revolution in 1917. These were mostly Russian aristocracy and they brought stroganoff and blini with them (Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, p. 511)

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GIVEAWAY! CSN Gift Code

2011-02-01T19:38:00.003-07:00

CSN has given my followers the opportunity to win a $35.00 gift code! I'm so excited to have a contest to offer my loyal (and new!) readers! CSN is an amazing network of 200+ stores in which you find everything from gorgeous modern bedding to cookware and bakeware, all with one checkout. Who wouldn't want $35 they can spend on essentially anything? Everything on the website is unconditionally guaranteed.

Particularly awesome stuff I spotted this time:

I love these sheets SO MUCH. I think it has to do with my love of peacocks (my family raised them):

I love prep bowls. They are incredibly important when you cook something where you have to move fast (candy, stir-fry, etc.). And I love Le Creuset.

Spice mills. I love fresh ground spices. You will love them too if you have a spice mill!

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Mandatory entry: Tell me what you would buy with the $35 gift code if you won!

Extra entries for:
+1 Following TJOTJOC publicly through Google Friend Connect
+1 Following @tjotjoc on Twitter
+1 "Liking" The Joy of the Joy of Cooking on Facebook

Rules:
1. Fill out the form above.
2. Must be 13 years old or older.
3. Contest will end February 15th at midnight. Winner will be chosen through a random number generator.
4. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email. If they don't respond, a new winner is chosen.

Cream cheese spreads (p. 179)

2011-01-31T22:31:00.001-07:00

I've meant to make Cream cheese spreads (p. 179) for a while, to the point in which I've roasted garlic for the recipe and just never finished it (roasted garlic is good in just about everything and I tend to use it up quickly).

I combined cream cheese, heavy cream, roasted garlic, scallions, and chopped black olives:

Mix, mix, mix, mix:

This was a delicious dip! It was just as good as the expensive dips that you may buy at the bagel shop and it was really easy to make at home. You could make countless permutations of this spread, both sweet and savory--a great canvas to express some flavor creativity. I think I might keep a savory option, like this one, and a sweet option (probably honey walnut) on hand, for when I want a quick bagel or toast snack.

Random facts:

A bagel should be made with white wheat high-gluten flour, boiled in water, and baked. The boiling gives the bagel a hard crust and shine (The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, p. 32)
"The proximity of Jewish immigrants on New York City's Lower East Side and the Catskills' dairy farmers led to the creation of two very American takes on Old World foods: New York-style cheesecake and bagels "with a schmeer" (a thick slathering of cream cheese)" (The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, p.176)
Even though cream cheese was invented in New York, it was called "Philadelphia Cream cheese" because Philadelphia was considered to produce the highest quality food at the time (Wikipedia)

Black bean tacos (p. 189)

2011-01-30T22:24:00.001-07:00

I decided that Josh and I needed a taco night so I whipped up some TJOC taco meat (delicious and as easy as a spice packet [no exaggeration, super easy]). I thought it would be the perfect time to make Black bean tacos (p. 189) since I love TJOC's refried beans recipe.

I made the refried beans, spread them on a tortilla, sprinkled Monterey Jack cheese on the top, and was finished!:

Super, super easy. You could use canned refried beans if you wanted to speed things up but homemade beans are so, so, so much better. My favorite part of this recipe? I didn't use black beans and, yet, TJOC calls them black bean tacos--the refried beans recipe says pinto or black beans and I like pinto beans much better.

Not much to blog about--the recipe was good but not very excited.

Random facts:

Wikipedia says that the term "pinto bean"comes from the Spanish frijol pinto which is literally "painted bean". So that means pinto horses are painted horses. Neat!
Pinto beans are usually used for refried beans in American Tex-Mex food and Northern Mexican food, while black or red beans are common in other parts of Mexico (Wikipedia). Anyone have any experience with this?
The term "refried beans" is based on a mistranslation. It does not refer to being fried twice (Wikipedia)