Chocolate Pots de Creme, in about Half an Hour

We’re having guests over for dinner this week, and tonight I made the dessert ahead.  I may have blogged about these before.  They’re a go-to recipe for chocolate fiends, and they can be made up to 3 days ahead, and kept under plastic wrap in the fridge.  For those who like to have their mise en place, this is a winner.  Who doesn’t like rich thick chocolate?  And who says you need a bain marie to make Pots de Creme?

I slightly modified a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated.  I used 2 oz ramekins instead of 5 oz ones, because I find the  full size to  be too much if you are serving more than a salad before it.  Besides, who doesn’t like having one or two (or 6) left over to share with friends the next day?

Chocolate Pots De Creme

Serves 8 – 14, depending on ramekin size (5oz for 8, 2 oz for 14)

Equipment

• ramekins: eight 5oz. ramekins, or about fourteen 2 oz. ones (I’ve used espresso cups before with good luck, also.)
• sheet pan
• 4 qt. saucepan
• heatproof silicon spatula or wooden spoon with flat edge
• whisk
• 1 qt Pyrex measuring cup for portioning
• fine mesh strainer
• large mixing bowl
• rolling pin or hammer (or chef’s knife and cutting board)
• 1 cup liquid measuring cup
• small bowl and spoon
• measuring spoons
• instant read thermometer
• plastic wrap

Ingredients

• 10 oz bittersweet chocolate  (2.5 Ghirardelli bittersweet bars from the baking section)
• 5 large egg yolks
• 5 Tbs. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. table salt
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup milk (I used skim, since it’s what I had)
• 1 Tbs. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder mixed with 1 Tbs. water

Procedure

1. Set out your ramekins on a sheet pan.
2. Break up the chocolate.  I use my rolling pin, and bash the bars before I unwrap them.  You can do the same thing with a hammer.  Otherwise, you can show your real knife skills by unwrapping the bars, and chopping the chocolate with a chef’s knife on a cutting board.  Either way, put the chocolate bits into the large mixing bowl, and put the fine mesh strainer over the bowl, and set them aside.  Put the 1 qt Pyrex measuring cup beside the bowl.
3. Separate the eggs, putting the yolks in your saucepan.  Do what you will with the egg whites at a later time.  Add the sugar, salt, cream and milk and whisk until combined.   Put the whisk aside with the large bowl, strainer, and large Pyrex measuring cup.
4. Mix the espresso and water in the small bowl, and measure in the vanilla.  Set aside with the large bowl, etc.
5. Put the saucepan over medium low heat, and stir constantly with the silicon spatula/wooden spoon so the custard can cook without sticking to the pan.  Cook for 8-10 minutes. It will heat up and thicken slightly.  Use your instant read thermometer to check the temperature during the process.  When you reach 175-180 degrees F, turn off the heat.
6. Immediately take the saucepan over to the large bowl, and pour the custard through the strainer, to remove any lumps. Scrape out all the custard with the spatula.  Let the hot custard melt the chocolate for a couple minutes, then begin stirring gently with the whisk.  Whisk more vigorously until the custard and chocolate are incorporated, and whisk in the espresso and vanilla.
7. Scrape the mixture into the large Pyrex measuring cup for portioning into the ramekins.  Fill the ramekins.  Cover the ramekins with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days.  Allow to stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before serving.
8. At serving time, serve plain, or with whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa.

I jumped on the bandwagon on Michael Ruhlman’s blog to join in on this summer’s BLT From Scratch Challenge, which was one to creatively make a BLT sandwich entirely from scratch, making the bread, the bacon, growing the tomato and lettuce, making the mayonnaise, and then sending in a writeup of the results.

Here is the basis for my entry, Panino del Po,  (Bacon Butty Italian Stylie, in Jamie Oliverese)

I made the  basic pancetta recipe from Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing with friends M and B some time ago.  Here is a picture of us with our lovely tied rolls of pork belly, ready to hang for curing.  As you can see, I was wearing the official Team Bacon t-shirt when we did it.

Pancetta, Rolled and tied, ready for cure

Here is what the results look like, sliced, before cooking.

Slices of cured goodness for the sandwiches

The tomatoes have been growing along, pretty slowly, but have changed to some lovely colors.  I think the micro climate near our driveway has been warmer than that of many others this year, despite our Minnesota locale.  I picked out two pretty tomatoes for the project.

A Jubilee and a Cuor di Bue

The one on the left is a Jubilee (I think).  The one on the right is a Cuor di Bue, which has taken over as one of my favorite tomato varieties.  You can see that it is shaped somewhat like the heart of an ox, which is the meaning behind its name.  Both of these varieties have dense “beefsteak” texture, and are juicy but not watery when you slice them. In the interest of giving credit where it’s due, I’d need to thank Whitewater Gardens for starting the seedlings, and my DH for helping with the watering of the plants.

While my love of Italian flavors is influencing my overall product, good toast was an essential for my sandwiches.  My current favorite bread for toast and club sandwiches is Pain de Mie.

The prepared pan and risen dough

I used Nick Kindelsperger’s recipe from The Paupered Chef.  I had better luck with this recipe than I have had with others.  This is the first time I’ve had a perfectly even colored crust. Since it came out so well, I’m happy to say I’ve now checked #78 of the Cook’s 100 off my list.

Even shape and even browning

For the mayonnaise (or otherwise emulsified sauce, also #54 of the Cook’s 100),  I chose the basic recipe using one egg yolk from Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, also by Michael Ruhlman, but not without prior research in the works of Julia Child and Simone Beck.  The main tipping point was not that quoting Michael Ruhlman again might provide me with a better chance at a prize in the challenge, but for the simple reason that I didn’t need two and a half cups of mayonnaise for only two sandwiches.  Ruhlman’s recipe yields about a cup, which was more than enough.

Mise en place for arm-strong mayo

I decided to use the mayonnaise as my arm workout for today.  And I’m glad I did.  It’s very satisfying to improve one’s understanding of the egg and emulsion, as Julia Child might say.  Beating the 1 yolk, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. lemon juice together with a teaspoon of water, then drizzling 1 cup of canola oil into it very very slowly while whisking constantly does, really, create a cup of mayonnaise.

After tasting the basic mayo, I flavored it with some balsamic vinegar (1-2 tsp.) to fit in with the other Italian flavors.

"Arm-strong" Mayonnaise

Finally, while Panino del Po was completely homemade, it does not contain lettuce, since we never got any lettuce planted.  Instead, to stay with the Italian flavor profile, and still use home grown ingredients, I used large basil leaves which we grew alongside our tomatoes in containers.

Sandwich fillings, ready while the bread is sliced and toasted

Here’s how the sandwich finally looked:

The end result, ready to eat

I’m no Donna Ruhlman, so the photos of this may not do the sandwich justice. This was a lot of fun to make and to eat.  It was well worth the effort.  This project entertained me several times.

Courgettes, or Zucchini and Summer Squash

Exhibit A: a normal sized courgette, green, with a medium sized yellow summer squash.  Both can also be referred to as zucchini.  Not pictured, lo zucchino grandissimo (THE HUGE ZUCCHINI, singular) which was utilized in the recipes referenced below.  Yes, that’s cakes plural, and it only reduced my zucchini count by 1.

It’s the time of year when the zucchini can get very large. In this season, in some cultures (Maine, for example), this is the single item where what is usually seen as generosity (the anonymous [or not] free donation of foodstuffs) can be considered an act of hostility.  We’re not kidding when we say that the only time that rural Mainers lock their cars is when zucchini is in its runaway stage.

I have found two very good zucchini cake recipes… one from the famous blog of Clotilde Dusoulier, Chocolate and Zucchini, for Chocolate Zucchini cake, and one (non-chocolate) from another recipe site, allrecipes.com.  Given the amount of zucchini around this time of year, it may be necessary to dig for my paternal grandmother’s recipe, and make one of those, too.

To prove that there is some originality in this content, there were modifications made in this episode. Due to the fact that we don’t have hazelnuts right now, we didn’t make the hazelnut topping for Clotilde’s cake, and we used a variation of the other recipe, to replace half the oil with applesauce, and to add more zucchini, which a recipe tester had said did not affect the result.  For us, however, it did.  This made for a much moister cake, which needed more time in the oven.

In the interest of journalistic integrity, we had perfect results with Clotilde’s recipe, as we have several times in the past. However, I must tell you that the classic zucchini cake came out VERY moist, (DUH, as I think in retrospect), but according to DH, it was not a failure because it tastes good.   My engineering-attention-to-detail self was not completely present this weekend.  Personally, I consider the result a bit embarrassing.

What to do with the over-moist cake?  I could still take it to work, since people there will eat any food that is put out on a certain table in the break room, with potential damage my reputation for very high quality output.  Perhaps if DH takes it to church today, the congregation will forgive and understand my failings?

Please let me know, readers, is it better to know that I produce sub-optimal results, and show my humanity, or are you reading this for America’s Test Kitchen quality with a less obsessive tone?  Or is it something else entirely?

OK, enough whining.  On to the evidence.  Let’s start with the chocolate cake, shall we?

Chocolate Batter

The method for the chocolate cake involves mixing the wet ingredients (eggs, butter, vanilla) with the sugar, then sifting the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cocoa) together.  One half cup of the dry ingredients are reserved, to be tossed with the grated zucchini and chocolate chips, while the other dry ingredients are mixed with the wet ones, as shown above.  This is a very thick batter.

The grated zucchini and chocolate chips with the remaining dry ingredients

The two are folded together, and then put in the prepared (greased and “floured” with cocoa) baking pan.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake before baking

Clotilde uses a springform pan, but I like the Kugelhopf shape for presentation:

And After the Oven. MMMMM....

It’s not picture-perfect, but none of its issues are anything a pretty plate and a dusting of powdered sugar wouldn’t hide.  “Flouring” a Kugelhopf pan evenly takes some practice, whether you are using flour or cocoa.  DH and I are still perfecting our technique on this.

And now “Mom’s Zucchini Bread” as cake:

Half of Lo Zucchino Grandissimo... 4 generous cups, grated

Adding the dry ingredients before the veg

I should have suspected this would be overly moist…

Very thin batter this time

And finally, it DOES look like a cake:

The Basic Zucchini Cake, Completed

I really should have baked this longer.  But evidently the UU members appreciated it enough to eat most of it.

The Homemade Version, brushed with melted butter

Oh, how we took things for granted in our youth.  Those boring little everyday things like these.

I recently had leftover cooked lobsters, and decided the best way to serve the cold lobster meat was in Lobster Rolls.  Living as I do in Minnesota, it is not possible to purchase the appropriate rolls for lobster rolls.  And we all know that your basic bratwurst bun, while perfectly fine for bratwurst, is NOT a suitable vehicle for the lobster roll, as the sides have a crust, and cannot reach the appropriate texture of toastiness when buttered and grilled as the immortal New England style Split-Top bun.  Here is a photo of what I’m trying to explain.  Doesn’t that look DIVINE?

Jeffrey Steingarten, food writer for Vogue magazine,  in his book It Must Have Been Something I Ate, explains the importance of having the right kind of roll when you make a lobster roll, much like the folks at http://theslowcook.blogspot.com/ and http://www.rootsandgrubs.com/ do, with more eloquence than I could.

What’s a Mainer in Minnesota to do?  Make her own, of course.  The King Arthur Flour people have sold special pans for these in the past, but they go out of stock quickly, and I couldn’t get one before the lobster got devoured anyway.

So, I searched for a recipe to start from, and I found this one, so thanks to Sally the submitter, whomever she is.  I modified this slighty, and we made it with the KitchenAid, so my directions reflect that method.

Equipment:

• Electric mixer with dough hook
• scale
• dry measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• pastry cloth/board
• rolling pin
• liquid measuring cup
• mixing bowl, large
• baking pan(s) (9×13 is OK, but  I think 2 7×11 pans would be better)
• oven
• instant read thermometer
• pastry brush (optional)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup butter  (or 1/2 stick, in the USA) , plus some (optional)
• 23 oz. all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading, rolling, and shaping
• 0.85 oz. sugar (2 Tbsp)
• 0.25 oz instant yeast (1 envelope, or approx. 1 tsp.)
• 0.17 oz  table salt (5 grams, or 1 tsp)
• 1 egg

Procedure:

1. Melt the butter. (I used the microwave, and a large Pyrex measuring cup.) Add the milk and water.  Take temperature of the liquid.  If 120 degrees F (50 degrees C),  you’re ready to go.  If not, heat until you reach a temperature between 110F and 120F, but not over. (Hotter will kill the yeast.)
2. Mix 8.75 oz (1 3/4 cups) of flour, yeast, sugar, salt together in the large mixing bowl.  Add the milk/butter mixture, and beat together using the paddle attachment on your mixer. Add the egg, and beat it in.  Beat in the remaining flour, 2.5 oz. (1/2 cup) at a time, beating well between additions.  When the dough has pulled together, switch to the dough hook, and let it knead for 8 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Divide the dough into 12 pieces, (3.5 to 3.75 oz).  Roll each piece into a 6 x 4 inch rectangle.  Roll them up along the longer side, and pinch the ends together to seal them.  Place them seam side down in the greased baking pan, close together, so you will get the fluffy sides when you separate them.
4. Let them rise 20-25 minutes in the pan before baking.  Bake 10-14 minutes, or until golden brown.  Brush top crusts with melted butter (optional) for that lovely shine.
5. Remove from pan and let cool completely before separating and slicing.
6. To make the top slice, separate a single bun at a time from the “loaf”. Slice vertically through the center top crust, until 3/4 through the bun.

Some photographic evidence of the process is below.  Thanks to DH for taking the photos.

Making the dough balls for each roll

Using the scale to get reasonably even sized pieces

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Forming the hotdog bun shape

Formed Rolls in Pan

Here to the right you can see the lovely lobster that I’d removed from the shells, and was rinsing and drying before refrigerating, for the eventual lobster rolls. And YES, they were delicious!

Baked Hotdog Buns

I think I’d make these in a narrower pan next time, so they’d be a little shorter and wider.  I think a 7 x 11 brownie pan would be the right width.   This is a remarkably delicate and tasty roll, however, and I’m going to make them again, soon.  Might have to make sausages to put in them this time. Or maybe some other kind of filling that would be good with the grilled sides.

The best blue food

After my parter in canning, C, had an adventure picking blueberries, and gave me some, I needed to make some blueberry pie.  This is not just because  a double crust pie is on the Cook’s 100.  As a Mainer, it’s important for me to have some Maine regional specialties every summer, and blueberry pie is a common Maine summer dessert.  The fact that I’m making them to coincide with my annual lobster dinner (I know it’s tough, but I as a Mainer, I MUST) this Saturday is just a happy coincidence.

As I had never made a blueberry pie before (though I’ve made many two crust pies), I sought the advice of those other New Englanders and cheffy types, the folks at America’s Test Kitchen. (That link will get you the recipe.  On their site you should be able to see a video of them making this pie, too.)

This recipe has two great culinary revelations, one in the crust, and the other in the filling.  The crust revelation is that they use vodka as some of the liquid in the crust, and the alcohol prevents the creation of gluten (as more water would), but evaporates away in the cooking.  This means that the dough is easy to roll out, but still comes out flaky.

The filling revelation is the use of an apple for added pectin for thickening, to help out the minute tapioca, as well as some tart flavor notes. You squeeze out most of the moisture from the apple (as in the kohlrabi recipe previously seen here on Slow and Sew), but the pectin remains.

I’m particularly proud of us for making these pies (I had the help of DH) on a weeknight after work. , and it’s a great reason to pull out the good tools:

It's not just for lefse, ladies and gents!

Once the pie crust is mixed up, and chilled, you roll it out.   Chris Kimball has a different shaped rolling pin, and rotates the  dough a quarter turn each time.  I think I’d need to really practice that method to get good at it.

Ready for the Onslaught of the Rolling Pin

I rolled out the two bottom crusts, put them in their pans, and set them in the fridge to stay cold (That’s Rose Levy Berenbaum’s biggest secret to great pie crust.  Keep those ingredients COLD.  Use your freezer, too.)

Keeping it Cold

Look- I’m even letting you see the inside of our refrigerator.  I knew you’d be thrilled.

With the shells chilling and ready for filling, it was time to address the filling portion of the recipe…   Time to cook down a portion of the blueberries into a jam, to cook out the moisture that would bubble out, or spill when cutting the pies.  This is accomplished with the saucepan, potato masher for squishing berries, and heat.

We're really cooking here.

Of course, the wooden spatula is now permanently navy blue and tan, but it was worth it.  After cooking half the berries down, then mixing the minute tapioca, sugar, and lemon zest with the remaining berries, and adding the hot and not hot berry mixtures, we had the filling.

Doling out tooth-staining goodness to the shells

Then, it’s back to the rolling action for the lid crusts.

With pretty little holes so the berries can breathe, and not explode

And then, to my best Bridget Lancaster impersonation, crimping the crust edges.

Seal 'er up, and get her in the oven! Egg wash Optional.

And finally, after baking in a 400F oven for 30 mins, and 30 mins more at 350F, here’s our result:

Aren't these pretty? I can't wait to cut into them!

This is a recipe posting for L, my “Local Mom”.  I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of these tasty little things.  I found the recipe in Farmer John’s Cookbook, The Real Dirt on Vegetables, by Farmer John Peterson and Angelic Organics.  It was also passed along in our CSA newsletter, with citation, of course.

In all my time in New England, I’d never seen a kohlrabi.  Not many kohlrabis were running around the Denver metro area when I was there, either.  But boy, did I start to see kohlrabi when I moved here!  I assumed it was another of those Asian vegetables that someone knew what to do with.  So, I was quite intimidated when they started piling up in the CSA box.  So what did I do?  Save them for a night when people were coming over for dinner!   I saw this recipe, and wow, they sound kind of like latkes… those are tasty, right?

These turned out to be a bit more savory, but the six of us had no trouble polishing off all of them, as part of our many dish dinner.  I’d say we had 1.5 times this recipe. The recipe says it serves 4 to 5.

Equipment

• large skillet
• grater or food processor
• chef’s knife
• cutting board
• large mixing bowl
• spoon for mixing
• sturdy spatula for flipping
• measuring spoons
• liquid measuring cup
• dish towel

Ingredients

• 4 medium kohlrabi bulbs, peeled (about 1 pound)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 small onion, chopped (1/3 cup)
• 2 Tbs. dried bread crumbs
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
• pepper
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 Tbs. butter
• plain yogurt or sour cream, for garnish (optional)

Process

1. Grate the kohlrabi and wrap it in the dish towel.  Squeeze out as much moisture as possible.
2. Combine kohlrabi, eggs, onion, bread crumbs, salt, ginger, red pepper in a large bowl.  Add pepper to taste.
3. Heat the oil and butter in the large, heavy skillet.  Add a spoonful of the kohlrabi mixture to the hot fat, and press down on it firmly with the sturdy spatula. (don’t stir fry)  Let the kohlrabi cake cook until brown, about 7 minutes.  Carefully flip with the spatula, and press down again firmly with the spatula, and brown for another 5-7 minutes.  You can make the hash brown patty any size you want, but keep it to 1/4 inch thick.  (Mine were about the size of an English Muffin).  Drain on paper towels.   (I kept a platter in a 200 degree oven so they’d stay crisp while I fried them in batches.)
4. Serve with sour cream or yogurt (Optional)

These are good for what ails you.  And besides, one can only eat so many raw sticks of kohlrabi with dip.

Note to Readership:  Rather than provide crystal clear, journalist-quality photographs, or magazine-quality “food porn” shots, the staff at Slow and Sew and her partner(s) are experimenting with artistic variety and time lapse in the documentation process.  Please enjoy our latest efforts.*

Dilly Beans, Ready for Maturing

C, author of Zig Zag, and my cohort in canning, became my partner in pickling this week.  She’d gotten about 25 pounds of green and yellow beans, and wanted help making Dilly Beans, since her family likes pickles.  I was happy to help, because cooking with C is fun, and I’d actually made dilly beans last summer with L, my “local Mom”, and they turned out well.   Did I mention that dilly beans are EASY????  The recipe below, modified from one we found on cooks.com, is for 4 pints of dilly beans.  We tripled this, to make about a dozen jars.

Equipment

• water bath canning kettle with lid and rack
• jar gripper
• pint jars with new canning lids and rings (wide mouth ones make this easy)
• paring knife
• cutting board
• colander
• large bowls
• sauce pan
• large pot
• liquid and dry measuring cups
• tongs
• spoon or spatula

Ingredients

• 2 pounds green beans (or mix of green and yellow), trimmed
• 4 cloves of garlic (or more)
• 4 heads of dill (or more)
• jalapeno chilies, cayenne peppers, or banana peppers (4 or more)
• 1/4 cup canning or pickling salt
• 2 1/2 cups white vinegar
• 2 1/2 cups water

For those of you who have not canned or pickled anything, here are two of your best friends:

Acid medium- also doubles as window washer, Roundup substitute, and french fry condiment

Basic white vinegar is what provides the acid necessary for the preservation, as well as that tangy flavor.

Pickling/Canning Salt, which kills bacteria

As the label says, it’s Plain Salt, Nothing Added (no iodine, anti-caking agents, etc). This is your other pal in the preservation chemistry.

Process:

1. Wash your jars in very hot water (if your dishwasher has a sterilizing rinse, this is a great feature) and soap to get them as clean as possible.  For extra safety, you can boil them in water for five minutes.
2. Trim the ends of your beans, and wash and drain them.
3. Peel the garlic cloves
4. Cut your chilis to suit (remove seeds, slice in pieces, or leave whole), depending on your tolerance for hot things.
5. Put the salt, vinegar, and water in a pot to boil, so that the salt completely dissolves.
6. Put the lids for your jars in water, and boil it.
7. Stuff beans into the jars, with garlic cloves, chilis, and dill heads.
8. Fill the jars with the salt/vinegar/water solution (aka a brine), leaving 1/4 inch head space in the jars.
9. Put lids on jars, screw down the rings.
10. Put sealed jars in the canning kettle with boiling water, and cook for 10 minutes.
11. Remove jars (with tongs- they’re HOT!) and let them cool.
12. Store jars in a cool, dark place for at least 2 weeks to allow the flavor to develop.

Here are some photos of our processing….

Peeling garlic by shaking them around in two bowls

Really, this method does work.  Take your garlic cloves, throw them in a bowl, and put another bowl the same size on top of it, rim to rim, and then shake it.  Makes the papery stuff come right off.  Also an opportunity to work on your maraca technique.

Adding lids after filling jars

Here we’re adding the (HOT) lids to the jars, before processing.

The Canning Kettle, from our local hardware store

Unloading the beans from the canner

Arty Time Lapse Photo

* Yes, the dorks are still trying to figure out the camera, but it sounds so much better when we present it that way, doesn’t it?  Who says engineers can’t do spin like marketeers?

Thanks to Luisa Weiss of The Wednesday Chef, I learned of the writing of Laurie Colwin.  I got these wonderful books used, and I’m so glad I got them.

Two great books by Laurie Colwin

Laurie Colwin was a great food writer, with a lovely voice,  and an encouraging, anything but snobby personality, who unfortunately is no longer with us.  These books are collections of her essays that she wrote for Gourmet magazine, and are great bedside reading.  It’s amazing how forward  looking she was, mentioning the importance of knowing where your food comes from, how much better organic chickens taste, and skepticism of agribusiness in 1987.

Ready to bake

This weekend, while breezing through Home Cooking, I re-read the Gingerbread essay.  I was hooked.  I’m quite partial to those molasses/ginger/allspice flavors from my New England childhood, which included gingerbread, Indian Pudding, and baked beans.  Laurie discusses English recipes for gingerbread, and cites Steen Cane Syrup from Louisiana as the King of Molasses in the United States.  Crosby’s Molasses was the brand of my childhood in Maine.  We didn’t bother getting it in the little jars.  We always had a gallon of it in the cupboard.  Crosby’s is a Canadian brand, so I’ve provided a link for people in the USA.  I can get neither without the aid of UPS here in Minnesota, but at least I can find jars in the stores.  This was not so easy when I lived in Colorado.

Gingery Glory Completed

Laurie Colwin’s Gingerbread recipe makes a single nine inch cake.  I doubled the recipe, and used a Kugelhopf pan (made by NordicWare, of Minneapolis, MN) that I got at my local Ace hardware store.  I didn’t bother icing mine (Laurie provides a couple icing recipes).  I’d rather have mine with whipped cream.  This recipe is the original, for a nine inch cake pan.  I’ll let you do the doubling yourself.  Laurie would probably not use an electric mixer to make this cake, but do it with a bowl and spoon, which is perfectly good exercise for your forearms.

Equipment

• nine inch round cake pan
• mixing bowl
• spoon (or electric mixer)
• rubber spatula
• measuring cups (liquid and dry)
• measuring spoons
• cooling rack
• oven mitts or potholders

Ingredients

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted (sweet) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract or lemon brandy (lemon extract WON’T DO)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. ground ginger (Laurie calls for a very generous Tbsp.  I agree.)
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice

Procedure

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Butter your cake pan (I would line the bottom with parchment paper to ease removal, but go with what works for you.)
3. Cream the butter and brown sugar together.  Beat until it’s fluffy.
4. Beat in the molasses, then the eggs, beating well after each addition.
5. Add the dry ingredients and the vanilla, and mix to incorporate.
6. Add the buttermilk, and mix in.
7. Turn the batter out into the cake pan, spreading where necessary to even out the batter.
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes.  Test for doneness after 20 minutes by inserting a toothpick in the cake.  If it comes out clean, the cake is done.
9. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and frost (optional) or serve.

Israeli Couscous Salad, a la Whole Foods, supposedly

This is my copy-cat recipe, which I found on Chowhound, posted by ach77.  Mainly this is because I had some Israeli couscous, and I like couscous salads in the summer.  I have visited Whole Foods stores before, but the nearest one is at least 2 hours away, so I am not as up on their regular repertoire of salads available for purchase.  I was willing to believe the poster on Chowhound that this was a tasty facsimile.

I made three diversions from the recipe ach77 posted:

1. I had safflower oil instead of canola
2. I used white wine vinegar, since I have no champagne vinegar, and since champagne *IS* white wine, I’m doing as well as I can.  Those of us in SE Minnesota like to DRINK our champagne (or Cava from Spain), not make vinegar out of it!
3. I added the diced meat of 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs that were cooked in chicken broth, as a creative way to use leftovers.

I’m not sure if this will still fit in Lauri’s definition of a copy cat recipe, as I have never tasted the original, but it sure looks good, smells good, and has great flavors.  DH and I both like this with chicken… I guess I should try it without the chicken sometime, too.

Equipment

• cutting board
  
• chef’s knife
• nonstick skillet (for roasting nuts)
• pot with lid (for cooking Israeli cous cous)
• large bowl for salad
• small bowl for mixing dressing
• whisk
• rubber spatula
• measuring spoons
• measuring cups
• Microplane grater/zester or vegetable peeler
• citrus reamer (optional)

Ingredients

• 2 cups dry Israeli couscous (uncooked)
• 1 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
• 1 cup pecans
• 2 scallions
• 3 Tbs safflower oil
  
• 1 1/2 Tbs. white wine vinegar
• zest of one orange
• juice of 1/2 of the zested orange
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric (or more)
• 1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• salt
• pepper
• (Optional: 5 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cooked)

Prep:

1. (If you’re going to use the chicken, cook it in salted water or chicken broth, in a covered pot or Dutch oven on high heat for approximately 20 minutes.  Drain the chicken, and cool it.  I did this a day ahead, and refrigerated it.  Once the chicken is cold, dice it.)
2. Bring a pot of salted water (approximately 1 quart of water, maybe as much as 2) to a boil.  When the water is boiling, add the couscous, stirring it to prevent it from clumping or sticking to the bottom of the pot.  Cook for about 10 minutes, or until al dente.  Drain it in a colander, but don’t rinse it.  Set it aside and let it cool.
3. Dice the scallions.
4. Toast the pecans in a dry skillet (as demonstrated here with pine nuts), then let them cool and chop them.
5. Zest your orange with the grater, or peel off the zest with a vegetable peeler and dice it up.
6. Combine the safflower oil, vinegar, zest, and juice from the orange with the turmeric, tarragon, and time.  Whisk together to make the dressing.  Taste, and season with salt and pepper.
7. Put the couscous, cranberries, (chicken), pecans, and scallions in a large serving bowl.  Drizzle with the dressing, and stir until everything is well dressed.
8. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate.  The flavors will develop and meld in the refrigerator, and get better over time.

How I endear myself to my husband

After discovering that A) Deviled Eggs were on the Cook’s 100, and that B) we have lots of eggs from our CSA piling up in the fridge, and remembering C) my husband’s fondness for deviled eggs (He LOOOOOOOOVES them), thus I was committed.

My next step was to find my recipe, and see if I had everything I needed.  After 20 minutes of searching through pieces of paper, cookbooks, and magazines, I found it, or at least the sheet of paper that had the relevant information on it- the ingredients, and the directions. (Do any of us really need a picture of a deviled egg?  Haven’t we all seen them at countless picnics?)

Equipment

• pot
• stove
• bowl
• fork or other mashing device
• knife
• cutting board
• rubber spatula
• measuring spoons
• pastry bag and tip (or a plain old teaspoon will work)

Ingredients

• 7 large eggs (cold)
• 3/4 tsp. mustard (grainy or Dijon)
• 3 Tbs. mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 tsp. cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire (pronounced Wouh-steh-sheer, for those not from New England) sauce
• salt
• pepper
• Tabasco or other hot sauce (optional)
• dill, paprika, or other herb/spice for garnish
  

After finding the recipe, I needed to take quick stock of the pantry and see whether I had all of the ingredients, and to be honest, I was worried I wouldn’t have any mayonnaise.  It’s not one of our regular food items around here.  Luckily I only needed about a quarter cup, and that was about what was in the bottom of the little jar, probably purchased when I last made deviled eggs for a picnic.  I know, I COULD make my own mayonnaise, and I promise to blog when I do, but this time, I sighed in relief.

There are probably scores (that’s groups of 20 for you young ones, and no, don’t ask me why groups of 20 have a name) of methods for hard boiling eggs, but I always use this one:

Procedure for Hard-boiled eggs:

1. Place eggs in pot (medium sized), and cover with 1 inch of cold water.
2. Put pot on stove (covered, if a cover is available – it makes the water come to a boil faster),  over high heat, and bring the water to a boil.
3. When the water boils, remove the pot from the heat, cover (if it isn’t already), and let the eggs stand in the hot water for 10 minutes.
4. After the 10 minutes, pour off the hot water, and cover the eggs in cold water with ice cubes added, and let them sit for 5 minutes, to stop the cooking and cool.

I have found that this method produces perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs, without the possibility of a green ring around the yolks.

Procedure for Deviling Your Eggs:

1. Peel the hard boiled eggs.
2. Slice them in half lengthwise with a knife.
3. Scoop out the yolks into a bowl, and mash them with a fork until there are no large lumps of yolk remaining.
4. Arrange the whites on the serving dish, discarding the two worst looking ones.
5. Add the mustard, mayonnaise, Worcestershire, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste, mixing with the spatula to combine.  Adjust seasonings, adding a few drops of hot sauce if you like it.  If you don’t like the stiffer consistency that this filling has, feel free to adjust it by adding more mayonnaise.  (I personally like it the way it is, with less mayo than most recipes)
6. Using a spoon, or your pastry bag, fill the cavities in the whites with the yolk mixture , mounding the filling about 1/2 inch above the surface of the whites.
7. Sprinkle with herb/spice garnish as you desire.  Paprika is classic, but I used fresh dill from our garden.
8. Serve at room temperature.

I think DH would appreciate it if I made these more than once or twice a year, but to be honest, I don’t think of it.  I always eat a few, and enjoy them, but it doesn’t cross my mind nearly as often as a treat, as say, CAKE.