Monthly Archives: August 2010

Counter Culture

Posted by Heather in Counter Culture and tagged with , , ,

Have I mentioned that my daughter and I are on a gluten-free trial diet? It’s been two weeks so far. We’ve managed to collect a few good recipes for things like muffins, waffles, and cookies.

When my youngest sister arrived back in town this week after a two month absence, we decided a celebration breakfast was in order: gluten-free buckwheat waffles with peaches, blueberries and whipped cream, and bacon on the side. The waffles were every bit as good as they look! (And if you don’t have to go gluten-free, you might still enjoy these waffles by making them with all-purpose flour instead of the gluten-free baking mix.)

GLUTEN-FREE BUCKWHEAT WAFFLES
(glutenfreegourmand.blogspot.com)
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1 cup gluten-free pastry flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill flour mix)
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. xanthum gum (if your flour mix doesn’t already have it included)
1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, separated
pinch of cream of tartar
2 cups milk
5 Tbsp. butter, melted

Mix flours, baking powder, salt, baking soda, xanthum gum and sugar in a large bowl.

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff in a separate bowl. You will know when they are ready when the eggs stick to the bottom of the bowl when tilted. At this point, stop beating the eggs immediately — you don’t want the egg whites to be dry.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, milk, and melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour 1/4 of the fluffy egg whites into the batter and gently fold them in with a rubber spatula, then fold the rest of the egg whites into the batter as well. You can stop folding when only a tiny amount of the egg whites is still distinguishable.

Pour 1/2 to 1 cup of the batter into a heated, greased waffle iron and cook until amount of steam coming out of the iron is decreased significantly. Repeat until batter is used. Serve waffles right off the iron or put them in a 250F oven to keep them warm.

Serves 6.

Market Fresh: Melons

Posted by Alaina in Market Fresh and tagged with , , , , , , ,

I will admit that I’m not very creative when it comes to melon – usually, I cut them and serve them. For this post, however, I decided to step outside the box since you probably don’t need tips on how to cut your melon into 1-inch pieces.

A couple notes on picking a melons: For honeydew and cantaloupe, I smell them - if it smells faintly like the fruit, it’s probably good, if it smells really strong, it’s probably past. For watermelon, I really do smack the melon and I can tell by the way it feels if it’s likely a good one.  I want to feel the juice “ripple” inside.

Now on to the recipes for today. I really liked this first one, it seemed like an unusual combination (I adapted the recipe from one I found) but the juicy melon with the classic tomato and basil combination was fabulous. It was a sophisticated and unexpected salad.

 

WATERMELON, TOMATO, & BASIL SALAD
Print This Recipe

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. sugar (next time I would try honey)
1/2 watermelon cut into chunks,
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Tb. fresh basil, chopped
2 Tb. Olive oil

Combine the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Combine watermelon, tomatoes, & basil in a large bowl. Pour cooled vinegar mixture and olive oil over the fruit. Gently stir to combine. Can season with salt if desired. Chill until serving.

My sister recommended this recipe and I couldn’t resist trying another fruit soup. It’s so refreshing and quite good. It would be lovely as a light dessert.


CHILLED CANTALOUPE SOUP
(allrecipes.com)
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1 cantaloupe – peeled, seeded and cubed
2 c. orange juice
1 Tb. fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Peel, seed, and cube the cantaloupe. Place cantaloupe and 1/2 cup orange juice in a blender or food processor; cover, and process until smooth. Transfer to large bowl. Stir in lime juice, cinnamon, and remaining orange juice. Cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour. Garnish with mint if desired.

Winner!

Posted by The Cooks Next Door in Giveaways

And the random winner of the Party Food cookbook is Ryan G. who said, “I just moved into a new apartment so this book would be great for hosting guests!! Right now I’m stuck with potato skins and taco cups, but would love to branch out to other fun foods!”

Thank you all for entering and for the comments! We will continue to try and provide a wide variety of recipes and hopefully incorporate many of your requests!

Congratulations, Ryan! We hope you enjoy! We will e-mail you to get your snail mail address and we will send it to you!

Weekend Fare: Raspberry Crumb Coffee Cake w/Maple Frosting

Posted by Alaina in Weekend Fare and tagged with , , , ,

This coffee cake is so delicious and goes along with the raspberries for this week. The combination of raspberry, cinnamon, vanilla, and maple is scrumptious. What a perfect recipe for weekend brunch, overnight company, or just because. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

RASPBERRY CRUMB COFFEE CAKE w/ MAPLE FROSTING
(adapted slightly from Emeril Lagasse)
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1 teaspoon butter
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 stick plus 4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease an 11 by 7 by 2-inch rectangular pan with the teaspoon of butter. In a saucepan, combine the raspberries, 1/2 cup of the sugar and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the mixture for 3 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the water and cornstarch together. Stir the slurry into the fruit mixture. Cook and stir the mixture for 4 minutes. Remove the pan and cool completely.

 In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream 8 tablespoons of butter and remaining 1 cup of the sugar. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. In a small mixing bowl, sift 3 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk, alternately to the butter mixture. Mix thoroughly. Mix in the vanilla.

 In a small bowl, combine the remaining butter, remaining flour and brown sugar together. Using your hands, combine the mixture until it resembles a fine crumb-like consistency. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Spread the fruit mixture over the batter. Drop heaping spoonfuls of the remaining batter over the fruit mixture, about 1-inch apart. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the entire pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

 In a mixing bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, maple syrup and milk together. Set aside. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before drizzling glaze over top. Cut into slices and serve warm.

Off the Shelf: Farm to Fork

Posted by Heather in Off the Shelf and tagged with , , , ,

Farm to Fork: Cooking Local, Cooking Fresh by Emeril Lagasse is everything we promote on this blog: fresh, seasonal, delicious. However, after much perusing, I feel it is aimed at the cook with plenty of time and money on her hands, and I am not that.

Gorgeous photos entice you at ever turn as Emeril goes through the herb garden; milk, eggs, and cheese; leafy greens; the three sisters: corn, beans and squash; nightshades (tomatoes and eggplant); berries, figs, and melons; the orchard; cole crops: broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower; thistles, stalks, and pods; roots, shoots, tubers, and bulbs; winter fruits; from the mill; fresh off the dock; out on the range; and home economics: preserving the harvest.

As you can see, this is a very thorough book, and there are a few recipes that are simple enough to tempt the home cook, such as: basil-macerated peaches, roasted butternut squash soup, spiced zucchini bread, apricot clafouti, and roasted brussel sprouts. Otherwise, we’re looking at things like: Corn, tomato, and lobster salad, lemon-scented orecchiette pasta with fava beans and fresh tarragon, tomato, zucchini, and leek galette with roasted garlic goat cheese, spiced blackberry soup with caramelized peaches and candied almonds, and wild mushroom ragout over creamy polenta.

I tried the Provencal-Style Stuffed Zucchini, and although the recipe looked a little intimidating, the result was not difficult and tasted amazing: so much so that we enjoyed the leftovers just as much. I highly recommend it. I also tried the apricot clafouti which turned out well and was enjoyed by all.

I would recommend this book as an inspiration to get ideas from and then create your own meals. It is worth checking out of the library.

PROVENCAL-STYLE STUFFED ZUCCHINI
(Farm to Fork)
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2 cups (about 2 oz.) diced French baguette or other crusty bread, preferably day-old (1/2-inch dice)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup packed fresh parsley leaves
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. salt, plus more if needed
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more if needed
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
8 small zucchini (each about 7 inches long and 1  1/4 to 1  1/2 inches wide)
4 ounces fresh lean mild pork sausage
3/4 cup minced onions
1 cup finely chopped peeled and seeded tomatoes (about 2 medium tomatoes)

Pulse the diced bread in a food processor until you have an even mix of fine and coarse crumbs. Add 1/4 cup of Parmesan, the parsley leaves, 1  1/2 tsp. of the minced garlic, 1/4 tsp. of the salt, and 1/4 tsp. of the pepper, and process until evenly mixed. Reserve 2 Tbsp. of the breadcrumb mixture for the filling.

Mix 1  1/2 Tbsp. of the exra-virgin olive oil into the remaining breadcrumbs, transfer the mixture to a small container, and set it aside.

Lay the zucchini on a flat work surface, and using a sharp knife, slice off the top quarter of each squash lengthwise. Next, slice a sliver off te bottom of each squash to help keep it stable. Using a small melon baller or spoon, remove the inner flesh from the zucchini to form a small boat shape, leaving a shell that is approximately 1/4 inch thick. Cut the zucchini pulp into 1/4-inch dice, and reserve it separately. Lightly salt the inside of the zucchini shells with the remaining 1/4 tsp. salt. Set them, h0llow side down, on paper towels to drain while you prepare the filling.

Heat 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet. Add the sausage and saute until it is golden, using a spoon to break it into small pieces, about 6 minutes. Add the onions and cook until they are soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chopped zucchini and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the remaining 1  1/2 tsp. garlic, and cook, stirring until the moisture has evaporated and the filling comes together, 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, stir in the reserved 2 Tbsp. breadcrumb mixture, and season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Rub the outside of the zucchini with the remaining 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, and season them lightly with salt and pepper. Turn the zucchini hollow side up, and lightly pat the insides with paper towels. Using a tablespoon or other small spoon, fill the zucchini with the warm filling. Top with reserved breadcrumbs. Lay the zucchini in a baking dish, and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy on top.

6 to 8 servings.

My Kitchen View

Posted by Alaina in Kitchen View and tagged with , ,

So, we have lots of tomatoes! And I’m thinking that I simply must make a tomato pie one of these days. I’ve never made one and never eaten one but I’m pretty sure I would love it. I also must make BLTs (Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato on buttered, toasted bread with real mayo) – they are a summer staple and one of my mom’s favorites! Do you have favorite tomato recipes?

Last night, we had vegetarian taco salad…so simple and filling. We really enjoy using black beans and cheese as the proteins over mixed greens with sour cream or plain yogurt, salsa, avacado, tomatoes, and tortilla chips. It was delicious and healthy. One of my personal goals lately has been to incoroporate more vegetarian meals into our diet. My family doesn’t mind eliminating meat for a few meals a week and I love the challenge of finding creative ways to enjoy meatless meals.

My latest, fun project was the cupcakes for my two-year-old son’s birthday. He chose them from a great book – Hello, Cupcake. The book has amazingly creative cupcakes that are do-able for the home baker. Last year I made circus cupcakes from the book – they were super cute but I’m happy to report that these were less time consuming and generally easier. :) My little guy was thrilled with the results and I changed up the cupcakes to work with the time constraints and ingredients available. I did a cupcake display instead of 24 nearly identical cakes. I liked the result! Check out the book if you are a cupcake fan! The picture below is the main design – little fishbowls.

Don’t forget to enter the GIVEAWAY! It’s a super cool, fun, and inspiring cookbook!

Market Fresh: Raspberries

Posted by Heather in Market Fresh and tagged with , , ,

Picking raspberries is a yearly tradition in our family. We love to go out into the country and hide among the raspberry canes, popping berries into our mouths as we pick buckets full to freeze for the winter.

We freeze our raspberries on cookie sheets and then, once frozen, transfer them to freezer bags. They do lose some of their sweetness once they are frozen, but we still enjoy them in pies, crisps, muffins, and smoothies throughout the year.

I decided to try a savory dish with raspberries and found this recipe for grilled raspberry chicken. Unfortunately, that evening my grill decided not to start, so we had to bake the chicken instead. It still tasted terrific, the mustard and raspberry making a winning combination with the chicken. However, I’m sure it would be even better grilled.

As the recipe suggested, I topped the chicken with a few frozen (but thawed) raspberries. I think I preferred the chicken on its own with the cooking juices/sauce rather than with the whole raspberries.

I’ve also included a recipe for raspberry pie because fruit pies are my very favorite.

GRILLED RASPBERRY GLAZED CHICKEN
(eatbetteramerica.com)
Print this recipe

1/2 cup raspberry jam (I used Smucker’s seedless Spreadable Fruit)
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1  3/4 lb)
1   1/2 cups fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries (thawed and drained)

Heat gas or charcoal grill in. In a small bowl, mix jam and mustard.

Carefully brush grill rack with canola oil or vegetable oil. Place chicken on grill over medium heat. Cover grill; cook 20-25 minutes, brushing occasionally with jam mixture and turning once, until juices in chicken run clear. Discard remaining jam mixture.

Serve chicken topped with raspberries.

Note: You can also bake the chicken at 350 for 40-50 minutes with the glaze on top of the chicken.

Serves 6.

RASPBERRY PIE
(The Cooks Next Door)
Print this recipe

pastry for a two-crust pie

8 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch

Mix together cornstarch and sugar. Add lemon juice and sugar mixture to raspberries. Pour into a pastry-lined pie plate and top with pastry crust that has vent holes cut into it. Bake at 375F for 60-90 minutes (timing depends on fresh or frozen berries) until center of pie is bubbling. Allow to cool (pie will thicken as it cools).

Serves 8.

Other ideas for raspberries include using them to top a pavlova, serving them with an easy pannacotta, and stirring them into gluten-free muffins.

Weekend Fare & A Giveaway

Posted by Alaina in Giveaways, Weekend Fare and tagged with , , ,

Last night I made this scrumptious pizza – pizza dough, drizzled with olive oil, topped w/sliced fresh tomatoes (from our garden), scattered w/fresh chopped basil, seasoned w/salt & pepper, topped w/Italian blend shredded cheese, and finished w/leftover chopped grilled chicken. Yum. It was fresh and delicious. So there you have an idea for a sauceless pizza…had I grilled it, I have not doubt it would have been in my top favorite pizzas of all time. Anyway…

Homemade pork burgers are a delicous alternative to the classic hamburger. I created these one night with some ground pork from the farmer’s market. We all enjoyed the sweetness added through the red pepper and the twist on a grilled burgers.


PORK BURGER
Print This Recipe

1 lb. ground pork
1/2 red onion (or any onion will do), finely chopped
1/4 red pepper, finely diced
1 clove garlic
2 tsp. smoked paprika
Salt & pepper to taste
1 egg
lettuce, tomato, mayo, ketchup, mustard (opt.)

Combine all ingredients. Grease & pre-heat grill or grill pan. Divide meat mixture into 6 patties. Grill until thoroughly cooked. Serve on a bun or lettuce with desired toppings. Enjoy.

_________________________________________________________

A GIVEAWAY!

It’s about time for another giveaway! I’m not sure I want to actually give this book away – it’s so fun and has such great, do-able ideas for entertaining. Without further ado, here it is:


Doesn’t it just make you want to plan a party just from the cover? Party Food has plenty of delicious-sounding recipes for your next dinner party or birthday bash and the beautiful photos will inspire your creativity.  

TO ENTER:
- Leave a comment on this post telling us anything you would like related to cooking, the blog, an ingredient, or whatever topic you would like.
- Make sure we have a way to contact you!

For additional entries (just leave us a comment telling us which ones you have done!):
- Subscribe via the link to the right or with google reader.
- Add us to your blog roll.
- Join our facebook group – The Cooks Next Door.
- Facebook about this giveaway.
- Tweet about this giveaway.
- Blog about this giveaway.

There you go! You could earn as many as 7 entries. And if you already are in our group, subscribe etc, let us know and we will add in the extra entries!

I will close this giveaway on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 and randomly choose a winner. All the best!

Off The Shelf: Cooking with Flowers and Lavender

Posted by Heather in Off the Shelf and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Summer is a great time to think about cooking with lavender and other flowers. This week we have two books to get you started in the right direction. (And, if you don’t have lavender growing in your own garden, you can find it in the spice section of any good supermarket, or health food store.)

The Lavender Cookbook by Sharon Shipley has 182 pages full of recipes that ALL use lavender! After the basics (such as lavender rubs, sugar, syrup and butter), there are four chapters devoted to the four seasons with recipes such as: Lavender Scones, Lavender Chicken Breasts, Lavender Lemon Buttered Chicken, Old-Fashioned Cherry Pie with Lavender, California Lavender Pasta Salad, Lavender Lemon Cookies, Hot Lavender Cranberry Punch, Baked Spicy Pork Chops with Lavender and Apple, Lavender Blueberry Banana Bread, and Lavender Roasted Beets.

Not only can you cook with lavender, but you can use a myriad of other flowers to accent and decorate your cooking. This book, with plenty of photos, helps you identify safe flowers you can eat and gives you ideas on how to use flowers such as: yarrow, hollyhocks, borage, chicory, fuchsia, sunflower, day lily, honeysuckle, phlox, rose, red clover, and nasturtium.

I decided to try a green salad with sliced peaches and laced with nasturtium flowers and ‘Alaska’ nasturtium leaves. For the dressing I used a lavender vinaigrette out of the lavender cookbook. The dressing was a nice complement to the salad, and the taste of lavender was not “in your face” as it could have been. Lavender-Honey ice-cream from David Lebovitz was incredible.

LAVENDER VINAIGRETTE
(The Lavender Cookbook)
Print this recipe

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I used half canola, half olive oil)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. dried culinary ‘Provence’ lavender buds, finely ground in a spice grinder (I just chopped them with a knife)

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, salt, and lavender.

Makes about 2/3 cup.

LAVENDER-HONEY ICE CREAM
(The Perfect Scoop)
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1/2 cup good-flavored honey
1/4 cup dried or fresh lavender flowers
1  1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup sugar (I left this out as it is quite sweet with just the honey)
pinch of salt
1  1/2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks

Heat the honey and 2 tablespoons of the lavender in a small saucepan. Once warm, remove from the heat and set aside to steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top. Pour the lavender-infused honey into the cream through the strainer, pressing on the lavender flowers to extract as much flavor as possible, then discard the lavender and set the strainer back over the cream.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. [If the custard curdles -- simply whizz in your blender.] Add the remaining 2 teaspoons  lavender flowers (I left these out) and stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, before churning, strain the mixture, again pressing on the lavender flowers to extract their flavor. Discard the flowers, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Makes about 1 quart.