a hot dish

oops...

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:28:08 -0600

Try as I may, I don’t always have success with my cooking and baking. I would love to be able to look at a recipe, follow it to a tee and have an incredible dish made to perfection. Sadly, it isn’t always the case.

For just a moment, let’s talk rice. Now, I have to admit, plain old rice is just okay. Pair it with veggies, shrimp or chicken, use it in a soup, then it becomes something more than okay. But, stand alone rice...not so much. Now potatoes are a whole different thing. I love potatoes. In just about any form. So what would happen if one paired potatoes and rice?

Several weeks ago, Martha Stewart made a potato and rice dish the piqued my interest. I am normally not a fan of Martha Stewart’s cooking. But, on occasion, I find some of the recipes on her show worthy of a second look. This Persian Rice recipe was one such recipe. Combining potatoes with rice, cooking it in one pot, adding dried fruit and cinnamon, frankly sounded delicious. On the show they made it without the duck confit. But, the recipe states that you use it. Well, folks, who has duck confit around? I mean it is not an easily accessible ingredient. I used chicken breast and as I talk about later, I would leave it out altogether.

The key to this recipe is to be able to flip it out of the pan in one piece once it is cooked. As you will see, the recipe calls for browning of the potato layer. I had a wee problem with this part. I couldn’t tell how brown the potatoes were. I was so afraid of burning them, that they never got brown enough and they didn’t hold together in one layer. Another problem I had, which wouldn’t have been a problem at all if my rice and potatoes had formed a solid layer, was I used too small of a plate for flipping. As you can see from the above photo, I flipped it right onto the counter. Not too appetizing is it?

The Recipe:
Persian Rice adapted from Martha Stewart Show

Serves 6 to 8

3 quarts water
2 cinnamon sticks
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups basmati rice, rinsed until water runs clear
2 legs duck confit, skin removed, shredded (igourmet.com)
3/4 cup dried cherries
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 4 tablespoons
1 pound russet potatoes (about 2)
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (Yuck!)

Bring water, cinnamon, and 3 tablespoons salt to a boil in a medium pot. Gradually add rice, stir, and cook until grains are tender but slightly firm in centers, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain rice; discard cinnamon sticks. Mix in duck confit, dried cherries, and melted butter. Season with salt and pepper.
Peel potatoes, and slice about 1/8 inch thick using a mandoline.

Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a large (10-inch) pot or heavy skillet (preferably nonstick) over medium heat, swirling to coat. Arrange 3 layers of potatoes in pot in a circular pattern, overlapping slightly, working from the outside.

Sprinkle cilantro over potatoes, and top with rice mixture, pressing down lightly to form an even layer. Place a cotton kitchen towel or a piece of cheesecloth directly on surface of rice, covering completely.

Cover pot, and cook for 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until potatoes are crisp and golden brown around edges, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove towel. Run a rubber spatula around edge of pot, and invert onto a serving platter.

The changes are made were thus: I didn’t use duck confit, because, really, who has that on hand? I used chicken breast. OBVIOUSLY, I skipped the cilantro and used parsley. I didn’t use my mandolin because the one I own would have made the potatoes too thin. I carefully sliced the potatoes with my chef’s knife. But, on second thought, perhaps the mandolin would have been a better choice.

Final Thoughts:

Even though this flopped, literally, I would attempt this again. I know that I didn’t cook the potatoes on a high enough temperature. I was so concerned about burning the potatoes, I played it too cautious. Don’t get me wrong, the potatoes were cooked, they just weren’t nicely browned and crisp.

I would, actually, leave the chicken out. And if you are a vegan, substituting olive oil for the butter, would be just as good. In fact, I would definitely make that choice even as a non-vegan.

I was a bit hesitant with the salt and pepper, and it could have used more. I am not a salt freak, but, I think people need to season their food way more and not worry about their salt intake. If you don’t eat prepackaged food, then there isn’t a need to delete salt from your cooking. And when you think about adding a teaspoon or so to your cooking, how much salt does that come out per serving? Not much. So people, SALT and PEPPER your food while cooking.

The bottom line is we thought this tasted fabulous. Both Paul and Kye loved it, as did I. I know that I need to turn the temperature up to brown and crisp the potatoes, I, also, know that I need to use a larger plate to turn the dish out on. A dinner plate was not large enough. I think it would make a nice presentation on a wood cutting board.

Just because my dish did not look good, does not mean it didn’t taste good. I think that you all should try this and send me your pics. I would love to see them. Be assured, if it looks messy, it will taste fabulous.

This is what I am aiming for next time.

February 5th, National Nutella Day!

Fri, 5 Feb 2010 15:29:24 -0600

I really love Nutella. Imagine my surprise when several years ago I discovered there was a National Nutella Day. How cool is that? Actually, I don’t know why I was surprised because there are “national” days for just about everything, still, this is super cool.

The thing about Nutella, is that it is perfect just the way it is. Right out of the jar. Grab a big old spoon, open the jar and dig right in. Divine. No need for anything else. If you have a craving for something sweet, a spoonful of Nutella will do the trick just fine, thank you very much.

Besides eating Nutella unadorned, there are many recipes using this brilliant ingredient. But, I wanted something simple. After watching another Throwdown with Bobby Flay, where he made some mean looking brownies, I had a hankerin’ for some. To kill two birds with one stone, and to honor what may come to be one of my favorite days, I thought I would combine brownies and Nutella. How bad could that be?

I had cut out a Nutella brownie recipe years ago. The paper is yellowed and old and of course, there is not a name on the recipe to give credit to. So, I am going to post the recipe, and if anyone knows who created this recipe, I will gladly and promptly give credit.

Oh, and just so you know, I am NOT all about Nutella, I do realize that today is also National Wear Red Day for heart health. So, just because I want to eat Nutella brownies every day, for my heart, I won’t. Everything in moderation...

The Recipe:

Nutella Brownies author unknown, but, will give credit immediately

1 cup butter 2 cups sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract 4 large eggs 1 cup unbleached flour 3/4 cup cocoa 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 cup Nutella 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside.  On a low heat, melt the butter and add in the sugar and vanilla while stirring to combine. Remove from heat and cool completely. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well to combine after each addition. (Okay, I melted the butter and sugar together in the microwave, using a big measuring cup, it took 3 minutes. I stopped after each minute to stir the butter and sugar. Then I removed the measuring cup from the microwave and added the vanilla. I let it cool a bit, then added the eggs one at a time.) (I just mixed the eggs and the flour mixture into the measuring cup, why bother with more dishes?)  Add the dry ingredients a little at a time and mix gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan. Take a spoon and drop teaspoon size pieces of Nutella over the batter. Try to make it even so there is Nutella in each piece of cut brownie. (If you want, you can take a knife and run it through the Nutella to spread it out more evenly.)

Sprinkle on the chocolate chips evenly over the batter. Then what I did is add a bit more Nutella, after all, can you really have too much Nutella?
 Bake for 20-25 minutes. Watch this carefully, you do NOT want to over bake brownies. That is a huge NO-NO.

Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.

Final Thoughts:

I think I have said this before. Yummy yummy yummy I got love in my tummy. I absolutely adore National Nutella Day. In fact, I think EVERY day should be Nutella Day. I want to personally thank the Italians for creating and manufacturing this divine product. Grazie!

Theses brownies were a definite winner in our household. Paul, of course, who loves all things chocolate, thought these were extremely moist. I am one who watches my cooking time faithfully, pulled the brownies out after 20 minutes and thought that they were a tad underdone, put them in for three more minutes. I think that was a mistake. Next time, and I guarantee there will be a next time, I may just pull them at 20 minutes. I don’t think it hurts at all if the brownies are under baked a tad. Please make these, you won’t be disappointed. Gustare!

Something different

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 15:38:29 -0600

Do you ever want something “different” to eat? Something that you wouldn’t ordinarily eat or make? I had this hankering for some such thing. I couldn’t figure out what it was. As I was going through my taped programs I came across a Throwdown with Bobby Flay. It was the one where he beat the pretzel guy from Philly. Now, I HATE it when Bobby wins, but, when he does, you know it is a pretty damn good recipe.

Whenever Paul goes to a ballgame, he yearns for one of the pretzels, but, can never justify the cost. I didn’t know this until the other day when I mentioned making pretzels. He told me he loved pretzels, but, never bought them. Why Paul doesn’t think he deserves to buy a pretzel, I will never know. He doesn’t have any problem spending 4 and half bucks on a coffee! Which I think is insane. I would rather buy a pretzel than coffee. Maybe the fact that I can’t drink coffee has something to do with it! Ya, think? Duh!

Anyway, I must have been in one of my rare nice moods, because I felt sorry for Paul and decided to make these very same pretzels of Bobby Flays. I am so glad I did, because they were very very very very good. Very good. Yes, very good, indeed. And easy. And good. Easy and good.

Now I didn’t bother trying to do the double twist maneuver, I made them simple. I watched several videos on youtube, but, decided it wasn’t worth anymore time or effort. I would just roll each piece of dough into 24 inch strips, make the dough into a “U” and bring each end up. I think they look beautiful. No need for fancy, here.

The Recipe:

Soft Pretzels adapted from Throwdown with Bobby Flay

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons light brown muscovado sugar
1 package active dry yeast
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil
3 quarts water
3/4 cup baking soda
2 whole eggs, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
Coarse sea salt (I used fleur de sel)

Line 2 half sheet pans with parchment paper and spray liberally with vegetable spray.

Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

Oil a bowl with vegetable oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Bring the water to a boil in a small roasting pan over high heat and add the baking soda.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 ounces each. Roll each piece into a long rope measuring 22 inches and shape: take the right side and cross over to the left. Cross right to left again and flip up.

Boil the pretzels in the water solution, 2 at a time for 30 seconds, splashing the tops with the warmed water using a spoon.

Remove with a large flat slotted spatula or a spider. Place 4 pretzels on each baking sheet, brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt.
Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown. Remove to a baking rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating.

Final Thoughts:

These were so so so good. It is amazing sometimes what can come out of one’s kitchen. If one just tries. Don’t be afraid to tackle these because they were super duper easy. They tasted better than any I have eaten anywhere. If you like pretzels you must try these.

Now I have to admit, once they came out of the boiling water they didn’t look that tasty. They were dimpled and water logged looking, but, baking turned them into a thing of beauty. I made a cheese sauce by making a béchamel sauce and adding a cup of monterey cheese and hot peppers. I, also, mixed a bit of good mustard with honey and presto, two easy dipping sauces. Enjoy!

Potatoes

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:06:48 -0600

Potatoes are one diverse vegetable. You can bake them, fry them, steam them, boil, mash, eat them cold, hot, put them in salad, shred, puree, make pancakes out of them or use them in bread. Lefse, anyone? And I have tried them just about every which way. So when I see a new recipe using potatoes, I am always ready to give it a try.

Watching the default channel, the crazy lady chef, Anne Burrell, made a potato dish that piqued my interest. And Paul’s, of course. I have to ignore Paul most of the time when it comes to food, because he loves everything he sees and wants me to make most of it. I, “politely,” decline usually, but, on occasion, I will honor a request or two. Usually, when I make something for Paul, it is because “I” want to make it, not because Paul puts in a request. I am, after all, not that nice of a person.

So, crazy lady Anne, was slicing her potatoes thinly and browning them in a pan and finishing them in the oven. Sounded like a plan to me. I can do this, I thought, so I did.

This recipe is called Pommes Chef Anne, a take off of the classic French potato recipe Pommes Anna. Now Pommes Anna uses butter and this recipe uses olive oil. Hmmm what to do, what to do? Normally, I would have gone with the butter, but, I decided to follow this recipe and use olive oil. I, also added thinly sliced onions to the dish, I felt it needed to be kicked up a notch. Since I always use onions in my scalloped potatoes, I thought they would work nicely here, and they did.

The Recipe:

Pommes Chef Anne adapted from Food Network Anne Burrell

3 russet potatoes, scrubbed clean
1 onion
Extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano
Kosher salt
Special Equipment: Mandoline, 8-inch nonstick saute pan

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Working 1 potato at a time, slice very thin on the mandoline. It is important to work with purpose here (quickly) because the potatoes will discolor. Do not put the potatoes in water because this will wash the starch off the potatoes. Coat an 8-inch nonstick saute pan with olive oil, using the potato slices starting from the center make concentric circles of potatoes. Remember that eventually the bottom will be the top so it is important for the first circles of potatoes to look pretty. After several layers of potatoes, layer the onions as best you can. Continue to add layers of onions after several layers of potatoes.

Brush each layer with olive oil and every 2nd or 3rd layer sprinkle liberally with grated Parmigiano and salt. After every layer of potatoes press the potatoes so they are very compact. Repeat this process with the remaining 2 potatoes.
Place the pan of potatoes over medium heat and cook until the olive oil begins to sizzle and the potatoes begin to brown on the bottom.

Put the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place a tight fitting lid on the pan. Drain the excess oil out the side of the pan. THIS STEP IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!! After the excess oil has been drained, completely flip the pan so the cake is turned out onto the bottom of the lid, then slide the cake off the lid back into the pan so the brown side of the cake is now up and the top becomes the bottom. We see now why draining the excess oil is important- if you attempt this without draining the oil it will drain out on your wrist and burn you.

Return the cake to the oven and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the cake is fork tender. Cut into wedges and serve.

Final Thoughts:

Well, well, well. Isn’t this just delicious? Yes, it is, indeedy. It is a combination of a latke and scalloped potatoes. How bad can that be? It can’t. I am glad I added the onions and next time I will definitely add garlic. I think I may add a bit of Gruyere cheese, too. It is too divine to think about!

Most likely I will alternate butter with the olive oil, too. I think the butter would add a lot of flavor. I just don’t know if you can go wrong with butter. Ever.

Now, the downside to this dish, is that it is super time consuming. I was really getting antsy by the time I was getting to the final layers. So have patience. Since I buy such huge potatoes at Costco, I only used two. But, if you have smaller potatoes, you will need three. Plus, I used a 10 inch non stick pan, as opposed to an eight inch. I own both sizes, but, I wanted a thinner “cake.” Next time, I may use the smaller pan and make it thicker. I may try different herbs between the layers, too. I think rosemary or thyme would be spectacular.

I wouldn’t let the time thing put you off to making this. Go ahead and do it. You won’t be disappointed. This is a brilliant potato dish. Yum!

bread making

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:06:05 -0600

Since my surgery, I haven’t done much cooking or baking. Actually, I haven’t done much of anything. You would think that having nothing to do would be a dream. But, in reality, it is super boring. I thought that having a forced down time, I would get a ton of reading done. I have only read one book, and I didn’t like it much. I, also, figured I could go through all my cookbooks and figure out what recipes I wanted to try. I got stuck on the bread books. Now why do I have so many? That is a good question. Did I forget that I had them when I bought the next one? I don’t think you can forget that you have 10 bread cookbooks.

So I pulled out “the bread bible” by Rose Levy Beranbaum and “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart. Both great bread making books. But, the thing is, they make is sound so difficult to bake bread. I remember my grandmother baking bread, WITHOUT a recipe, she just “felt” the dough and her bread was brilliant. She didn’t worry about the temperature of the water of if the yeast met the salt or how long the bread should rise. There was no thermometer to test the temperature of the dough. She did it all by sight and feel. Sometimes I think that the joy of baking bread goes right out the window when things get too scientific. Sometimes I think you can over “think” things to a point of immobility. When I read through how to make bread I thought, who would even do this?

Many years ago, I had made the sour dough starter from Nancy Silverton’s “Breads from the La Brea Bakery. It took me several weeks to make the starter. I kid you not. They want you to keep the starter in a warm spot. The warmest place in the house was in my daughter’s bedroom. I would stick the starter next to her heat register on the floor. One day I went in to get the starter and it had grown. Lots. And by lots I mean it grew out the bowl and across the carpet. It was a mess. I can’t even talk about it.

I got to thinking when I made that starter, and when I read other recipes about making a sour dough starter is how much money is involved in making it. I realize that once the starter is made, then it can last centuries, literally. But, I can’t keep up with feeding and blah blah blah. By the time the starter is ready to be made into bread, I have lost interest.

Whenever I think that I can do this, I always go to the coop and buy organic bread flour or whatever the instructions say. Fifty bucks later, I have enough flour to make the starter and keep feeding it for the initial beginnings. I wonder how nomads did it centuries ago. They didn’t measure and have specific flour and they did just fine. Yet, here I am ready to start another sour dough starter. Once I can get a shoe on and can drive, off to the coop to start all over again. I wonder why I do this to myself.

Ouch!

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:00:52 -0600

Just a note to say I won’t be posting for a few days or maybe a week. I had another foot surgery yesterday and it is difficult to stand, which in turn makes it impossible to cook or bake. Thank the goddess for vicodin. Ouch!

This is my third surgery on the same spot. The first two, were botched. This time, it wasn’t so much a foot surgery as removing a nail that was used to fuse my toe bone together. The problem was the orthopedic surgeon didn’t put the screw in properly, he left it sticking out on either side of the bone. For ten years I have suffered pain. TEN YEARS. I have seen other doctors and just last year I was referred to another ortho man. He was an asshole. He patted me on the head and said the pain was imaginary. (That’s not exactly what he said, but, that is what he said, if you get my drift.) Ouch!

Last week, my doctor sent me to a podiatrist because of a toenail problem on the same foot. When he was examining me, I mentioned that my foot was extremely painful. He took an xray and boy oh boy was he pissed. He couldn’t believe what other doctors had done. He was flabbergasted that a surgeon would leave a nail sticking out of the bone on either end. He said he was going to take it out and he felt 95% positive this would end my foot pain for good. TEN YEARS, folks, ten long painful years. Ouch!

The above picture shows the size of the nail/screw/pin that was pulled out of my big toe! Ouch!

Garlic oil

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 09:32:58 -0600

Is there anything more lovely than the aroma of garlic on a cold winter’s evening? Or summer morning? Or spring afternoon? Or anytime at all? Well, yes there is the scent of lilacs and the smell of bacon frying, but, you know what I mean.

I have never tasted anything with too much garlic in it. Whenever a recipe calls for a clove of garlic, I use at least 4 or 5 cloves. And you know what? It has never been too much.

This is garlic infused olive oil, that you can store in the refrigerator for weeks. I use the oil to brush on French bread, or to drizzle on vegetables. It is perfect for sealing in fish before frying or as the beginning of a vinaigrette. Try adding a bit of balsamic for a quick but, divine dressing. The other night we were making huge roast chicken and ham sandwiches and I added just a sprinkling of this oil and it kicked up the sandwich another several notches.

What is so wonderful about baking the garlic is how the aroma permeates the house. It is cozy and comforting in only the way certain foods can do. It is not bitter, it has an almost sweet scent. I love it.

Recipe:

Slow Roasted Garlic adapted from Rick Bayless

INGREDIENTS

4 large heads garlic  OR 10 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) peeled garlic cloves 2 or 3 cups fruity olive oil 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup fresh lime juice

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Break the heads of garlic apart, then mash each clove (a fist against the side of a knife is what I do) to release the clove from its papery skin; if using already-peeled garlic, scoop the cloves into a heavy plastic bag and use a rolling pin to mash them slightly.
Stir together the garlic, oil and salt in an 8x8-inch baking pan (make sure all the garlic is submerged), slide it into the oven and bake until the garlic is soft and lightly brown, about 45 to 55 minutes.

Add the lime juice and return to the oven for 20 minutes for the garlic to absorb the lime and turn golden brown. (If you’re using the larger quantity of oil, ladle off 1 cup—no garlic cloves—and store it in a cool dry place for use in salad dressing or sautéing.)
Using an old-fashioned potato masher or large fork, mash the garlic into a coarse puree. Pour the mixture into a wide-mouth storage container and refrigerate it until you’re ready to enjoy some deliciousness.

Final Thoughts:

This is so worth the effort. I forgot to mention one of my favorite uses for this. Pasta, baby! For a quick dinner, cook spaghetti and use this oil for the sauce, you can add shrimp or an assortment of veggies. Spread the oil on crusty bread and compliment it with a salad with the same oil. Easy peasey and good to go! Enjoy!

date cake

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:39:42 -0600

Long long ago, on a faraway day, Paul and I saw a recipe we wanted to try on TV. It had dates in it. We both like dates and vowed the next time we went to Costco, which is every week, we would buy dates and make said recipe. We remembered to buy the dates, which is cause for celebration and when we got home we were eager to try this new recipe. But, as always, there was a problem. Neither one of us could remember what the recipe was. We tried to recall, we really did, but, a year later we still can’t remember why we bought the dates.

So when I saw a recipe for a date cake in our local paper, I thought I can finally use those dates. Would they still be good after such a long time? Yup, they were. Amazing. Because come to think of it, we think it was ONLY a year ago we bought them. Recently, if I remember that is, I am starting to write the dates on food products we buy. Losing one’s mind is not fun, not fun at all.

As I read through the recipe and noticed it had chocolate chips and walnuts spread across the top, I thought this recipe would be a winner. Because those dates needed to be used!!!
Yum.

More yum.

The Recipe:

PETER'S GRILL CHOCOLATE CHIP, DATE AND WALNUT CAKE from The Star Tribune

• 1 c. finely chopped pitted dates
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. boiling water
• 13/4 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pan
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. chocolate chips
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

In a medium bowl, toss dates with baking soda. Pour boiling water over dates and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and cocoa powder.
In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 1 minute. Add sugar and beat until mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and beat until thoroughly combined. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture and mix until just combined.
Add date mixture and mix until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts on top.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely before serving.

Final Thoughts:

Okay, I had a wee problem with this recipe. Normally, I always set my timer for at least 5 minutes less than the recipe calls for. That is what I did this time. When I checked the cake, it wasn’t anywhere near done. So, I set the timer for another 5 minutes. Not done. Then another five minutes, still not done. Now I am checking this with a long wooden skewer and it isn’t coming out clean. But, I could see that the edges were getting more and more done. I hate when the center is not done, but, the edges are being over baked.

I placed some tin foil over it to try to keep the edges from burning while the middle set. The final result was that the middle of the cake turned out fabulous and the outside pieces were a tad dry. But, I think this was good enough and well worth the effort to try and play with it a bit. I am going to use a pullman style loaf pan and see if the narrower pan will increase the evenness of cooking. Because, the moist part was sublime.

The rich dates along with the sweet chocolate chips and the added crunchiness and saltiness of the walnuts made for a super pairing. If I made this using a pullman pan, and slice it as if it were bread and applied some butter, I think it would be brilliant. Trust me I am going to try this. Perhaps right now.

Vindicated

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:11:03 -0600

Well, well, well. How smug do we feel now? Very smug. As you may well know, my heroine is Ina Garten. I want her to adopt me. You think I jest? Well, this is serious business. You know how much Julie loved Julia. Well, I love Ina more. So there.

I was watching the current episode of Barefoot Contessa and at the end of the program she took several questions from viewers. One question was about cilantro. Ina hates it. I couldn’t believe my ears. Ina hates cilantro. I hate cilantro. I love Ina. We truly are kindred spirits. Who knew?

Paul and I don’t argue too much. But, when we do, it is always about the same things. His driving. His insistence that if I just wore Depends I wouldn’t have to go to the bathroom so much. I have screamed at him, literally, that it isn’t that I can’t HOLD it, it is that I have to go frequently. Depends isn’t going to help that. I am not leaking. I know, I know, TMI. Finally, after months of this, I told him if he ever brings this up again, I am going to leave. Apparently, he doesn’t want me to leave, because he stopped. His driving. We quarrel about cilantro. He loves it, of course, and I hate it. And his driving.

The problem is, he can’t understand why I hate cilantro. Since he loves it he thinks that I am just being stubborn or some such thing. But, I am not. I can’t even stand the smell of it, much less the taste. I refuse to grow it in the garden. I told him if he wants it, then he can plant it, weed it, water it, fertilize it and harvest it far far away from me. I am not going near it. Ever.

I have explained to him, over and over again, that some people just can’t tolerate cilantro. He thinks I am being contrary. He thinks that if I just keep trying it, I will learn to love it. I pointed out to him, that I listened to an Indian chef once on Minnesota Public Radio that said in India, half the population could tolerate cilantro and the other half couldn’t. So if half the population of India doesn’t like cilantro, then that is a hell of a lot of people.

I made him watch my taped episode of Ina saying how much she dislikes cilantro. He knows how much I worship her and I thought that would be the final word. But, no, he just said, “You don’t know what you’re missing.” Blah.

Disaster

Fri, 8 Jan 2010 10:46:07 -0600

Okay, this isn’t a disaster in the mode of an earthquake or a tsunami or even wearing a blue suit with black shoes. But, in the kitchen, it was a huge disaster. The effects are still being felt today. And a waste. A waste of butter. Geez.

Where shall I start? At the beginning, my good sir. So, let me tell you a story, a disaster tale.

Once upon a time a silly woman had promised her one reader that she would try new recipes from her myriad of cookbooks. She pulled out the excellent (or so she thought at the time) “pastry” by Michel Roux and perused the pages trying to decide what would be something she could make. She stopped at the beautifully photographed picture of a croissant. “What a great idea!” she said enthusiastically. “Now, I already make a great croissant!” she exclaimed humbly, “Why make this recipe?” Well, the woman thought to herself: because I can. That’s why. Plus, who knows, maybe this will be a BETTER croissant. And keeping with a New Year’s resolution to lose weight and eat healthier, what could be better than a croissant? Indeed.

As always, our baker reads through the recipe several times before beginning. Now this woman is normally great at math. But, for some reason, probably her serious struggle with senior moments, she neglected to calculate the length of time the recipe would consume. She failed to realize once she started at 8AM that it would take her into the evening to complete her project. The woman was angry. Very angry. And it is not nice to make this woman angry.

First, the dough didn’t look right. “Hmmmm,” muttered the woman. “This doesn’t look right.” But, she had already committed to the project so she thought, let’s see what happens. After the first rise and then the second rise and then the chilling in the fridge for 4 hours (yes 4 hours!!!!) she was ready to rock and roll out the dough. Which was a chore. Remember this woman is ancient and she has arthritis in her hands, therefore rolling the dough is hard work. Once the dough was somewhat close to where it was supposed to be, because the woman realizes there is no way in hell she can roll this dough out to the desired size, she takes 1 1/4 pounds of BUTTER and lays it across the dough. She pounds it into submission. And begins folding the dough again, chilling it three times. “Blah,” the woman moans. “Blah, blah, blah.” For the woman is extremely articulate.

Skipping ahead, because this story is already too long, it is now 7:30PM and our baker is finally ready to put her croissants in the oven. She says to no one in particular, “These better taste good, because they sure look ugly!” Into the the oven they go. “Twelve more minutes and I can finally eat.” For the woman had not had any lunch or supper in anticipation of the divine delicacy.

The woman sits down at the dining room table to work on her holiday jigsaw puzzle while waiting for the timer to beep. After a few minutes, she smells something. It is not good. She looks up from concentrating on trying to find a puzzle piece and notices not only does it smell bad, but, the dining room is quickly turning to smoke! She turns towards the kitchen and she can barely see, because of the billowing clouds. Being such an alert and quick thinker, the woman wonders if she should stop, drop and roll, OR, should she turn off the oven before calling 911? A dilemma for this swift thinking person.

“Turn off the oven, you fool!” screams a voice inside her head. So she does. And then this moronic woman and her poor husband spend the next hour in sub zero temperatures, trying to get the smoke and smell out of their humble abode. The woman turns to her husband and asks “Do you think we need to call the fire department for help?” The husband looks at her for a moment and says: no. She is not so sure. It is pretty bad.

Her husband brings up the summer fan, and they put it in the window, open the doors and try to pull as much smoke as they can out of the house. Did I mention it was below zero?

At first our feebleminded heroine thought that the cling wrap must have stuck to the bottom of the baking sheet and that is what started on fire. But, after checking the waste bin, the woman was relieved to find the cling wrap sitting on top. Thank god, she thought to herself, because she knew she was going to be on a one way bus going to the “home.” Once they were able to open the oven door, without getting “the black lung” they came to the conclusion that the pound and a quarter of butter had melted out of the croissants and started a grease fire.

So the lonely and dejected woman found herself the next day cleaning her oven. Something she vowed she would never do. The moral of the story is, if you have a good recipe, that works like a charm, don’t try another. Oh, and one more moral, have smoke alarms that work.

The End