Crumb Cake

Growing up in NYC had alot of perks. Can you imagine that it wouldn't? Anyway, my dad is entirely German, with a teeny touch of Swiss thrown in. His family has always lived in predominantly German areas of Brooklyn and Queens after they immigrated from the Black Forest region of Germany back in the early 1800's. In these areas there are fabulous German bakeries. We even had one 5 blocks from my house on Jamaica Ave - I forget what it was called - and there was Reinwald's over on Braddock. Then there was Glendale Bakery, in, well, Glendale (where my dad spent some time growing up). Maybe the one on Jamaica was called Glendale Bakery too? Anyway, they always made these fabulous crumb cakes (a very German cake, unique to New York City), and forever I've been searching for a great recipe for one. This is probably the closest to the kind I grew up with, although the texture and taste of the cake is a little different than what I am used to. Nevertheless, this recipe from Martha Stewart is pretty freaking good, and of course you give it a good spanking of powdered sugar at the end. My husband says it is better than he has ever had, which were dried out and well, probably not from NYC. Yum!

PS - don't forget the cinnamon in the crumb topping... I did the first time around and had to scrap the whole thing after it was baked.

Vanilla Crescent Cookies

I wanted to give this recipe for Vanilla Crescent Cookies a whirl tonight. In my mind they would come out beautifully, and I would package them prettily for Christmas gifts. I don't know if it is because the air is so dry here in Utah or what, but I just couldn't get the dough to come together. It was just a big mess of nothingness. I guess I need to find a different recipe, but I am feeling rather defeated tonight.

A few new things

Forgive me public, for I have sinned. It has been nearly 8 months since my last blog post...

Anyway, here are a few recipes that were requested, and I apologize for not having pictures for all, but there it is. As always, using real ingredients rather than their cheap and tasteless mass-produced counterparts always, ALWAYS makes a huge difference.

First off, roasted chicken. It's an easy one dish meal that I make regularly, and by regularly I mean once a week. Preheat your oven to 425. On a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan cube yukon gold potatoes, yellow onions, carrots, etc... whatever vegetables suit your fancy, but these are the ones I use. Salt them (use kosher salt). Take your fresh chicken (3-4 lbs), and stuff it with quartered lemons. Slather it with about a stick of (real) butter, and salt it generously. Massage the butter in. Love it. Set the chicken on top of your veggies, and then stick the whole thing into the oven for one hour and fifteen minutes. After you are done with the chicken DON'T THROW IT AWAY! Nicely wrap it in foil and stick it in your freezer for the next step. Or at least, save your carcass and give it to me. I will return it to you in the form of fresh stock.

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Second off, I would like to re-emphasize to Kimmy how easy fresh stock is. It's so easy an infant can do it. All it requires of you is minimal attention. When you've made your first pot, let me know how you like it. You'll never go back to boxed or canned stuff when you see how freaking easy it is. Whenever you are making anything that requires even half a cup of fresh stock you will notice the difference.

The basis of the recipe I like to use is from Lidia Bastianich's "Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy". I usually save enough carcasses to fill a 16 qt stock pot, and then double the ingredients because I just go through it that fast, but I will just list the recipe as she has it in her book. 

Put your carcasses into an 8qt pot, and just cover the chicken parts with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for a minute or two and you will see foam rise to the surface. Skim off and discard this foam, lower to a strong simmer, and cook for one hour occasionally skimming the fat and foam off.

Once you have let it simmer for one hour, add in 1 large onion cut in quarters, 3 medium carrots cut into chunks, 1 tbs of tomato paste, 8 cloves of unpeeled garlic, half a bunch of fresh Italian parsley, and 12 whole black peppercorns. I generally don't salt it at this stage - I usually wait until I am using it in my recipe. 

Cook for another 3 hours. Strain your stock through a sieve and discard the rest (saving the meat, if any, for the dogs). What I usually do is take the stock and refrigerate it overnight so that any remaining stock congeals  on the surface, making it super easy to spoon off. I usually store my stock in the freezer in 2 cup increments in ziplock bags. They say you can store it for up to 6 months but it never takes more than a few used to use it up.

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This one is for Aly. You'll have a chance to put your fresh stock to the test with another recipe from Lidia Bastianich's "Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy" (It's a fab cook book. Go! Buy!) called Veal Chops with Fontina. I don't ever use Veal Chops though because they are just so expensive. I will just get some thick, center-cut pork chops and make them instead. Make one chop per person. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Cut your chops as if you were going to make them thinner, but don't cut all the way through (so, parallel to the counter). In a separate bowl, mix 8 oz of real Italian fontina cheese and 8 oz of real (Fresh! not from the Green Bottle of Death!) Paremggiano Reggiano. Take a meat mallet, and pound out each half of your chop. Take a generous mound of your cheese mixture and stuff it between your chop halves. "Sew" them closed along all your edges with toothpicks - you want to make sure your cheese doesn't leak out.

In a 10-12" oven-proof sautee pan that has pre-heated on medium-high, put two tablespoons of (real!) butter and a turn of extra virgin olive oil, and then when the butter melts, add the chops to your pan (only one layer though, so if you are making more than four you will need to do another batch). Quickly add 12 sage leaves between your chops. Turn your chops once or twice in the next 5 minutes that you are cooking them. 

After 5 minutes, clear a space in the middle of your pan and drop in 1 tbs of tomato paste. Pour two cups of white wine over the tomato paste, and stir it together, shaking the pan gently to distribute the yummy goodness. Bring to a boil, and cook for another 3 minutes. Add another 2 tbs of (real!) butter, turn your chops over again, and add in 1/2 cup chicken stock. Cover your pan, and put in the oven for 15 minutes. If you remove your pan at this time, your sauce will be thinner which is how I like it (wherein I make fresh spaetzle and serve it over the spaetzle), but you can thicken your sauce by taking the cover off and letting it cook off for another 10 minutes in the oven. 

Serve immediately so the cheese is oozing out. Yummm!!

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Fresh Spaetzle is so easy. Again. You'll kick yourself for ever buying the boxed stuff from the grocery store for $4 when you can make this for really, only about $1. I highly recommend investing in a $12 spaetzle maker before you ever make this so you don't have to spend three hours pushing it though a sieve. I speak from experience when I say that if you try to use a colander or sieve to push it through you will never want to make it again.

Whisk three eggs, and 3/4 cup of milk (any fat percentage will do), and salt to taste. After this has combined, add in 2 cups of flour and stir 'til combined. Let your dough rest 10 minutes. Maybe it's obvious, but it should be said that your spaetzle maker should be set over a pot of boiling, generously salted water. As soon as the dumplings pop to the top they are done. I use a spider to transfer them directly to the sautee pan with the sauce above, after the chops are done and removed.

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Last but not least. Gingerbread cupcakes with Orange Icing. I saw this recipe on Barefoot Contessa the other week, and they looked so good that I thought I would make them for Thanksgiving. They were everything I hoped they would be, albeit a tad rich. For the record I didn't use the crystallized ginger that the recipe calls for. I thought it was great without it. Click the picture for a link to the Food Network site where they have the recipe.

A fresh food rant.

I was just reading Michael Ruhlman's post about Americans being too stupid to cook, which is a reflection of this article from the NY Times about appliances that are appearing with one touch buttons (ie; expanding the idea of the "popcorn" button on microwaves to other kinds of foods). Michael implies that it is insulting to the average American for appliance people to put these features into play.

Sadly, I have to say that more and more I am confronted with people who don't even possess basic cooking skills like emulsifying a basic salad dressing, or making a properly cooked piece of meat. Baking cookies from scratch seems to be a passe activity anymore with the plague of cut and bake, preservative laden dough in the supermarkets. Personally, I am appalled, and until I started throwing dinner parties, thought that everyone at least possessed basic skills. One touch appliances are hardly surprising, albeit completely disheartening.

Unfortunately society at large is consumed with fast foods, both outside and inside the home. Now, I won't lie and say that I never ever grab fast food, but 95% of the time I cook at home and fast food is never as satisfying as the experience of "real" food. So many times I see people's idea of cooking as how many cans and boxes of whatever they can combine to make a thing, using ingredients that keep food shelf stable and come in mass quantities, consistently forgoing quality for quantity. There is a total disconnect between where the food comes from and how it gets to your table. Most times people don't know where the food was even farmed, or the quality of life your meat had before it landed in your shopping cart. I've seen sad situations where I have offered a delicious, from scratch meal with real terroir to someone, and had it turned down in favor of boxed, canned, high-preservative food. It is saddening to know that pasteurized, dumbed down, canned, and boxed "no-think" food is more popular than cooking from scratch in this country. Frankly, when you taste the difference between freshly grated Parmesan, and the stuff in the green container, it really makes you wonder how you could not put in a touch of extra effort to grate the real stuff for yourself instead. The list goes on.

This is a crime.

Forget about health care reforms. Let's go back to our roots, so to speak. Ditch the boxes, the cans, and the injected meat. Take funding away from the meat factories, and give it to the local farmers. Spend money teaching people how to eat and cook real food. Forget cooking with one finger, and learn to cook for real.

My first 2010 Finish!

This is the Grateful Heart Band Sampler from Jan-Apr 2009 Just Cross Stitch, stitched on 28 count hand dyed Jobelan "Clay" and worked with Gentle Art Sampler Threads and Gentle Art Simply Shaker Threads.

Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb and Chicken Roll Ups

I think it has been a while since I last blogged. I've started a new part time job, and now I am sick,  and well... you know... life just happens right?

I don't know about anyone else out there, but we are being teased with spring here. I'm so done with the lack of available tasty produce. I definitely prefer a warm weather diet... I like light and bright flavors in my food, so this whole cruciferous and root veggies are starting to irritate me. I'm ready for new flavors!! Most of all I wish we weren't land locked because I prefer fish to meat. :-(

So in the last few weeks, I've made a couple of spring and warmer-weather inspired dishes. The first, a leg of lamb, is a classic spring meat, and is traditionally served on Easter (at least in the North East where I am from)(and this is a one dish meal so you have fewer things to clean up). Yum! The second was thrown together on a whim - chicken roll ups. I needed something fast and I used what was on hand. No pictures because the food disappeared to fast to take a picture of it!!

Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb

Recipe Courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten)

• 12 large unpeeled garlic cloves, divided
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 (6-pound) boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and tied
• 4 to 5 pounds small unpeeled potatoes (16 to 20 potatoes)
• 2 tablespoons good olive oil

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven so the lamb will sit in the middle of the oven.

Peel 6 of the cloves of garlic and place them in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the rosemary, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and butter. Process until the garlic and rosemary are finely minced. Thoroughly coat the top and sides of the lamb with the rosemary mixture. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Toss the potatoes and remaining unpeeled garlic in a bowl with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place the lamb on top of the potatoes and roast for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the internal temperature of the lamb is 135 degrees (rare) or 145 degrees (medium). Remove from the oven and put the lamb on a platter; cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow the lamb to rest for about 20 minutes. Slice and serve with the potatoes.

Chicken Roll Ups

This is an incredibly easy dish. You can make substitutions to this dish, but since I just threw this one together I'm really thrilled with how the flavors balanced. If you do make substitutions, you will want to make sure that you don't have one ingredient that will overpower the others.

You'll need one boneless skinless chicken breast per person

1/2 lb of thinly sliced Prosciutto di Parma (Harmon's has started to import directly from Italy and it's so good I almost ate the whole thing without saving some for dinner!!)

Baby Arugula

Freshly grated Parmeggiano Reggiano

2 cups of chicken stock

Juice of two lemons

First, set a 10-12" sautee pan on a medium high heat, adding 2 tbs of butter and 2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil to your pan.

Beat your chicken breasts to about 1/4" thickness between two pieces of wax paper. On each breast, put two layers of Prosciutto, a layer of arugula, and then a thick layer of Parmeggiano (the more the better with the cheese so that it stands up in taste to the Parma and the arugula, both of which have strong tastes.

Once  you have assembled your layers, roll your chicken breast up tightly, and secure with kitchen twine. Salt and Pepper the outside of your roll, and then brown your rolls in the pan on all sides. Once all sides are thoroughly browned, remove from the pan, and set aside. 

To your pan, add 2 cups of chicken broth and the juice of two lemons (three if they aren't very juicy), and then scrape the fond (the brown bits) from the pan. Bring your liquids to a boil, and then add your rolls back into the pan. Cover and let simmer until your roll is cooked through, about 5-7 minutes. 

Serve with pan juices, and enjoy!

Parmesan Chicken

 

Another recipe from the Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten).

This was delicious, and I used arugula instead of the mesclun mix that Ina's recipe called for. I would also urge you to definitely beat your chicken breasts, because it does affect your cooking time. Since you are coating the meat, it will burn if you cook it as long as you need to cook it through without beating it.

• 4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
• Unsalted butter
• Good olive oil
• Salad greens for 6, washed and spun dry
• 1 recipe Lemon Vinaigrette, recipe follows

Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. Toss the salad greens with lemon vinaigrette. Place a mound of salad on each hot chicken breast. Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

Lemon Vinaigrette:

nocoupons

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

This is a recipe from The Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten). I can't eat mushrooms, but my husband's reaction was "WOW". Also, you will need a solid 2 hours to make this soup, although it definitely makes for leftovers.

• 5 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 5 ounces fresh portobello mushrooms
• 5 ounces fresh cremini (or porcini) mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon good olive oil
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 sprig fresh thyme plus 1 teaspoon minced thyme leaves, divided
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Clean the mushrooms by wiping them with a dry paper towel. Don't wash them! Separate the stems, trim off any bad parts, and coarsely chop the stems. Slice the mushroom caps 1/4-inch thick and, if there are big, cut them into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

 

To make the stock, heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large pot. Add the chopped mushroom stems, the onion, carrot, the sprig of thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Add 6 cups water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid. You should have about 4 1/2 cups of stock. If not, add some water.

Meanwhile, in another large pot, heat the remaining 1/4 pound of butter and add the leeks. Cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the leeks begin to brown. Add the sliced mushroom caps and cook for 10 minutes, or until they are browned and tender. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and stir for another minute, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the mushroom stock, minced thyme leaves, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the half-and-half, cream, and parsley, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and heat through but do not boil. Serve hot.

Cinnamon Buns with Mascarpone Cheese frosting

This recipe was adapted from a recipe by Giada DiLaurentiis. We always enjoy these in our home! 

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 (1-pound) loaf purchased frozen white bread dough, thawed in the fridge
• 1.5 cup powdered sugar
• 6 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
• 2 tablespoon buttermilk

Brush 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the bottom and sides of an 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. (I didn't use nuts as I don't prefer them, but you would put in 1/3 cup of nuts here if you like) Mix the brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll out the thawed dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12 by 9-inch rectangle. Brush 1 tablespoon of butter over the dough. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border along the top and bottom sides. Starting at 1 long side, roll up the dough jelly-roll style, forming a log. Pinch the seam to seal. Cut the log into equal pieces. Arrange the rolls, cut side down, in the prepared baking dish, spacing evenly. Cover the dish with plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise in a warm draft-free area until puffed, about 45 minutes.

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.

Bake the cinnamon rolls uncovered until the tops are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the powdered sugar, mascarpone cheese, and buttermilk in a medium bowl until smooth and creamy.

Brush the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter over the baked cinnamon rolls and then drizzle the cheese mixture over top. Serve warm.

Days 1 and 2 of the Great Week of Eating In

I was a bit too tired to post anything about my lack of exciting cooking yesterday (but really... who can say that they make all out meals every day?), but yesterday was grocery shopping day and it was exhausting as it usually is. On top of that, we live in a third floor walkup, and had already brought up a gratuitous number of non-perishables from Sam's Club the previous day (Relay style. It took an hour!)

Since I did the shopping, uncomplicated was on the menu for the day. I made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch with this awesome roasted tomato and olive DaVinci Gouda on a fresh French boule. OK... Honestly? I just can't get enough of that cheese. It's creamy, it's delicious, it's versatile. I think it would make a great fondue, but I have yet to experiment with that.

Dinner found a corned beef and cabbage in the pot. This can't be an easier dish to make, and you only see the corned beef seasonally in the store so I snatched one up while I was there. Into the pot with the water and seasonings, then the cabbage goes in for the last 30 minutes. Can it get any easier?

Today for  lunch I made myself Smoked Salmon Pinwheels. I created this recipe as a variation on a favorite from my teenage years, again, from Yura's. They make them with different ingredients, and I came up with these one year for a cocktail party. They are so easy and so delicious - there are so many layers of flavor here. Recipe after the picture.

To make them, you will want to start with some pre-made flour tortillas. The larger the better, as they will yield more servings. You'll want one package of smoked salmon/lox (I prefer lox as it is a little saltier than smoked salmon), one 8 oz package of cream cheese, fresh dill, half of a large onion or shallots, finely chopped (I used shallots as I prefer their taste), and half of a lemon, juiced and zested.

Mix half (4oz) of your cream cheese, your lemon ingredients, your shallots or onions, and 4-5 stalks of fresh dill in a mini-prep or by hand until well combined. If you plan on making this by hand, do make sure that your onions or shallots are very finely diced unless you like larger bites of the flavor.  

Once it is combined well, spread your mixture onto one tortilla, making sure to leave a 1/2" border from the edge. Put one layer of salmon on top of your spread, and then roll your tortilla up like a jelly roll. Cut your edges off since they will not have anything in them, but then slice 1-1.5" rolls (as big as you like), serve, and enjoy. 

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Tonight for dinner is a roasted chicken over onions, carrots, and potatoes. I plan on toasting some croutons to serve the chicken over. I am also defrosting a loaf of bread dough with which to make cinnamon rolls with Mascarpone frosting. Yummm!!