Cathie Cooks Food

Yay...

2010-06-08T15:17:00.000-04:00

Anthony Bourdain has a new book out!!

Cupcakes....

2010-06-06T17:06:00.001-04:00

I had to make some cupcakes for my daughters end of year Brownie party tomorrow, so I used my Vanilla Fairy Cupcakes recipe, and then did the pale green icing with the confectioners sugar/water mixture and made it a little bit runny and then dipped the tops of the cupcakes in that, let it set and then used Martha's Basic Butter cream frosting tinted pink to decorate with my very basic piping set.

I think they are really cute. I'm no crash-hot piper, but today I had good luck with the whole thing. Usually I mess it up and then just end up having cupcakes with blobs on it. I also used some little pearls to decorate the top of the piping.

Yesterday I ran the Race for the Cure in DC and then promptly forgot to tape the special CBS showed last night, and then today my friend Hannah, who ran in the race with me, said that I was on TV running!!! I have search and search the Internet but the show is not posted anywhere, so Hannah kindly didn't delete the show, so I can go over and have a look. I'm sure I'll be horrified. It was a big day for me because that was the first time I have run since my calf injury, and I managed the whole 5K with no incident and a nice time of 29:20 mins. It was also really hot at 8:30 in the morning, so that also slowed me down a bit.

So today I made two Banana Cakes, the cupcakes, a Warm Lentil Salad for lunches during the week, and then dinner, which was lemon and thyme chicken breasts with roasted potatoes and carrots and brocolli for the girls and peas for the boys!

Made from scratch Chocolate Pudding

2010-05-28T13:50:00.000-04:00

Yesterday in the Local Living section of the Washington Post they had a great article about a new book called Real Food Has Curves, about weaning ourselves off processed foods. And they shared a recipe from the book, made from scratch chocolate pudding. I had a quick look at it and had all the ingredients, so I whipped it up before the school bus arrived in the afternoon and we had it for dessert last night. It makes 4 huge serving, but it could easily be 6 regular servings or 8 nice small ones. I served it with a dollop of whipped cream and some raspberries. The kids loved it, I loved it, and Marc thought that it could be a little sweeter. I'm really into the more bitter chocolates at the moment, so I was happy with the outcome.

Ingredients:

2 large eggs
2 cups low-fat milk
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup flour, preferably unbleached
1 ounce unsweetened or baking chocolate, finely chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Have four 6-ounce ramekins or custard cups at hand.

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until they are smooth and creamy, with no remaining floating bits of translucent egg white.

Combine the milk, brown sugar, cocoa powder, flour, chocolate, vanilla extract and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat; whisk until the chocolate melts and the mixture just begins to bubble. Cook for 30 seconds, whisking, while the mixture thickens considerably. Remove from the heat.
Whisk half of the warm chocolate mixture into the eggs in a slow, steady stream, until smooth and well incorporated. Then return the combined mixture to the remaining chocolate mixture in the saucepan and place over low heat. (If you're using an electric range, it may be helpful to have a second burner set on low.) Whisk constantly over low heat for 2 minutes, reaching into the edges of the pan and letting the pudding come to only the barest bubble. If the pudding starts to bubble, reduce the heat as needed or take the pan off the heat and keep whisking for a few seconds to cool it down. The consistency will be silky, with body.

Transfer to the individual ramekins or custard cups. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface to keep a skin from forming, if desired. Refrigerate for about 1 hour, or until well chilled and set.

Calories: 260,Total Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 5g , Cholesterol: 115mg, Sodium: 260mg, Total Carbohydrates: 36g , Dietary Fiber: 3g , Sugar: 18g ,Protein: 11g

Seriously....

2010-05-27T15:28:00.002-04:00

Why would you want to do this? Isn't that why we have ovens?

Grass Fed Beef

2010-05-20T16:03:00.000-04:00

We just bought 70lbs of grass fed beef from a local farmer in Virginia. In fact it's the farmer from the movie Food Inc. His farm is Polyface Farms in the Shenandoah Valley. If you haven't seen Food Inc I encourage you to watch it and you'll rethink your whole meat situation. It was more expensive than buying our meat at Costco, but we wanted to give our money to a local farmer, eat good meat, and hopefully help the environment at the same time.

We picked it up yesterday, all nicely vacuumed sealed and labeled, and made burgers for dinner. The meat definitely smelled different while it was cooking and it was totally delicious. We got about 30lbs of ground beef all in 1lb packages, some Chuck Roasts, Flank Steak, New York Strip, Fillets, Top Sirloin, Sirloins, Round Roasts and a Brisket and an Arm Roast, which I had to look up because I've never heard of it.

We have pledged to eat less meat but a better quality of meat when we do eat it. We are thrilled with this purchase so far and it should last us for a while.

Now I just have to figure out what to do about the chicken. We eat a lot of chicken and it's really expensive to go organic free range, around $4.00 a pound. I'm buying hormone free chicken at the moment, and staying away from Tysons chicken all together, but we are looking at getting better chicken in our diet.

Warm Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese

2010-05-16T14:48:00.025-04:00

I absolutely love this dish. It's yummy, crunchy, filling and good for you. I usually make it on Sunday's and then I have it there ready for lunch all week, or as a side dish, or just a couple of spoonfuls if I need a quick snack to fill me up. I found it on Martha's website, she uses lentils quite a lot and I have tried lots of the recipes, but this is one of the best ones. I have changed a few things from her recipe, mainly I use onions instead of shallots, because it's much cheaper and basically tastes the same and I use a whole cup of lentils, and different coloured bell peppers.

1 cup green lentils
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 shallots/onions, thinly sliced crosswise and separated into rings
1 carrot, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 stalk celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 yellow bell pepper
2 teaspoons coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons balsamic or sherry vinegar
6 ounces spinach, stemmed and coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces fresh goat cheese

Directions

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add lentils, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add shallots/onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add carrot, celery, and bell pepper; continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes more. Stir in parsley, vinegar, and remaining tablespoon oil. Transfer to a large bowl.

Drain lentils, and add to bowl with vegetables. Stir in spinach, and season with salt and black pepper. Crumble goat cheese into bowl, and toss gently to combine.

Vegetable Lasagne Rollups

2010-05-12T17:16:00.000-04:00

Tonight's dinner!! Look good don't they? And very easy and great if you just want a single portion and not much cheese. I'm trying to do at least two vegetarian dinners a week now, and it's working out well and there is not too much complaining from the kids. I saw this recipe in In Style and changed it up the filling a little bit and did not use jarred sauce, I made the sauce myself, (although I did use canned tomatoes)

1 teaspoon olive oil
4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 cups baby spinach, chopped
1 16oz container skim milk Ricotta cheese
1/4 cup Parmigiano/Reggiano Cheese
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 onion
1 clove garlic or 1 teaspoon minced garlic
12 lasagna noodles, cooked, drained and layed flat to cool.

Preheat oven to 350F
In a skillet heat olive oil, and saute chopped carrots until tender, and then let cool.
In a large bowl mix ricotta cheese, baby spinach, parmigiano/reggiano cheese and cooled carrots.

For Tomato Sauce:
Chop onion and saute with garlic until tender, add the can of crushed tomatoes and simmer for 5 mins.

Using a spoon, spread filling onto each lasagna noodle, leaving 1/2 inch at each end so roll-ups don't overflow, roll each one tightly. Spread half of tomato sauce on the bottom of a deep backing pan, place roll-up seam side down. Cook in oven for 45 minutes. Remove and top with remaining tomato sauce and any cheese that takes your fancy (cheese entirely optional), cook for 15 minutes more.

Calories: Around 171 per roll, 4.5gs fat. You have to take into account how much cheese you use on yours and also if you use skim or full milk ricotta, but this gives you an idea.

Whole Wheat Cranberry Choc Cookies

2010-05-08T15:47:00.008-04:00

For my first baking experiment since I got my new oven I made these yummy and low calorie cookies. I adapted the recipe from Cooking Light, and that recipe used dried cherries, and as I would probably never have dried cherries lying around I threw in dried cranberries and they work just as well. I also used the Ghiradelli Bittersweet Choc Chips. The cookies also use a mixture of whole wheat flour and regualr flour and oats and only 89 calories per cookie! What's not to love?

1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup dried cranberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
5 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used the Ghiradelli Bittersweet choc chips)

Pre-heat oven to 350F

Combine flours and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stir with a whisk.

Melt butter in a samll saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and whisk in brown sugar, stirring until smooth. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.

Add cranberries, vanilla and egg, beat until combined. Fold in Chocolate.

Drop dough by tablespoonful 2 inches apart onto baking sheets (I use parchment paper or silicone mats on my cookie trays).

Bake at 350F for 12 mins.

Cool on pans for 3 mins or until almost firm then cool on wire racks.

Yield 30 cookies.

I worked out the calories on the calorie calculator on Calorie Count, which is an extremely handy tool:
89 calories per cookie, 4.2g fat, 2.5 g sat. fat, 14mg cholesterol, 104mg Sodium, 11.7g Carbs.

Induction Cooking... I am, are you?

2010-05-04T20:34:00.001-04:00

I just got a Samsung Range Induction yesterday. I love it already. It makes a weird buzzing noise when you cook, but that is something that you can definitely get used to.

Here's a brief description of Induction Cooking:

How Induction Cooking Works:

The element's electronics power a coil (the red lines) that produces a high-frequency electromagnetic field (represented by the orange lines).That field penetrates the metal of the ferrous (magnetic-material) cooking vessel and sets up a circulating electric current, which generates heat. The heat generated in the cooking vessel is transferred to the vessel's contents.Nothing outside the vessel is affected by the field--as soon as the vessel is removed from the element, or the element turned off, heat generation stops.

So only the elements are induction, the oven is convection, huge with 3 racks. I was set on a double oven, but I gave that up to have the induction burners. You can only use stainless steel pots or cast iron, so I have had to get some new pots and pans and some saute pans, but other than that, it's been fantastic. I made a Seafood Risotto tonight for dinner, and the response on the burners is amazing. There is so much control!! I'm very excited. So excited in fact that I totally forgot to take a photo of dinner, and now it's all gone.

I think induction is going to be the new wave of stoves. It's energy efficient, and just like cooking with gas, and you get a nice flat glass stove top, which looks sleek and fabulous.

I haven't tried the oven yet, and I'm dying to bake some cookies with the convection oven, but that won't be happening until I get full use of my calf back and I can do all the cardio and running that I want.

Walking for Hope

2010-05-02T18:49:00.022-04:00

Today the whole family walked in the Race for Hope in Washington DC, for my husbands friend who died of Brain Cancer last year. We had a huge team and raised over $11,000 for brain cancer research and it was really fun.

I had planned to run in the event, but 4 weeks ago I tore my calf muscle. We had just had a March Madness event at my gym (Golds!), in which you had to complete 25 classes in the month of March. Being insane I decided to complete the classes in 3 weeks, as well as keep up with my running. I only run about 12 miles a week, but considering that I ran zero miles a week for the 42 years before that, it's a lot. So for 4 weeks I didn't have a day off from the gym and then on 4/3 at 8:00am Body Step class, my calf muscle tore!! So the moral of the story is warm up your calf muscles properly.

Anyway, it's about a 6-8 week recovery, with lots of physical therapy and exercises and major inconvenience. You can't do any cardio at all for the first two weeks when you are on crutches, so when I could limp into the gym, I decided to use the hand bike or the "fluid ergometer", and it's surprisingly difficult!! You really break into a sweat. And then when I eventually could get my heel to the ground I started using the Stair Master (which I never would have jumped on before), very very slowly, to do about 30 minutes of cardio. During the whole thing I was still able to do pilates, because a lot of that is core, you you are not using your legs or putting weight on them.

I've still got about 4 weeks to go until I can start running again, and it will be work to get back into shape.
It really makes you think about what you have been doing or not doing when you get an injury like that, and it also makes you discover new ways that you can work out. I had to completely grind to a halt for two weeks and then rethink the whole thing for upper body work outs and limited cardio. It's also difficult when you have lost a lot of weight, you immediately think that you are going to balloon out in two days and then have to start your weight loss all over again - which I'm happy to say didn't happen, because I went back to counting calories, and that is the best way to make sure you are under control if you can't exercise.

30 pounds lighter... it's all in the three P's......

2010-04-29T14:31:00.010-04:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged. However, I have a really good reason. I have been busy getting fit and losing 30lbs(me on the right at my first 5K), and totally changing the way I eat, cook and think about food. Of course I still make my banana cake and my chocolate chip cookies every now and again and for special occasions, but I'm also the proud owner of at least 15 new recipes for lentils. I haven't made them all yet, but my favourite is the Warm Lentil Salad, which I eat for lunch at least 3 times a week and I'll bring to you next post!!

So I'm all about the three P's right now, planning, portions and performance (or exercise!).

I have become and exerciser and a calorie counter and a nutrition junkie, and have discovered a lot of new food, new ways to cook and new ways to eat and enjoy life in the process. I have started to run, something I thought I would never do, let alone enjoy, and it has been great.

I have also suffered an injury in the last month, which has totaly ground me to a halt, and given me lots of time to think, which has been a good thing. I'll be discussing all these things in the days to come, and I'm really looking forward to it an also getting some feed back from everyone!!

Hiatus

2008-12-07T16:59:00.002-05:00

I realised today after making 3 batches of these, that I need to take an official hiatus from my blog, probably until February. I just don't have the time at the moment to give it the attention it deserves. I'm sure I will be back with a vengeance in February! See you then!

Not Much Going on In My Kitchen

2008-11-23T19:24:00.002-05:00

Since I last blogged I've been away for two weekends, one to Baltimore, and one to New York, so I've done more eating than cooking. Also, I have to be truthful, I just haven't made anything decent for ages, so I've been totally unmotivated to blog. With Thanksgiving days away, I'll be making a couple of new things so I'll be able to update.

Thanksgiving totally crept up on me this year. I can't believe it's on Thursday and then it will be December!!!

Cranberry Bread

2008-10-30T20:33:00.003-04:00

The new Everyday Food arrived this week and thankfully there were lots of things in there to try. The first recipe that caught my eye was for Cranberry Bread, so I whipped some up this afternoon. It was really easy and it tastes great. The cranberries are really tart and it's delicious, with just enough sweetness from the cake part to counteract it.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
2 cups flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon slat
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
1 bag (12oz) cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 9x 5 inch loaf pan, 8 cup capacity, and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside in a medium bowl, combine butter egg and milk. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and whisk to combine. Fold in cranberries.

Pour better into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centre of loaf comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack; let bread cool 30 mins. Invert onto rack, then immediately turn right side up and let cool completely.

I also picked up a copy of Ina Garten's new book Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients, which Costco has for $18.89. Amazon has it for $21.00, so if you are near a Costco, it's a bargain!! I just had a quick look through and there are some lovely things in there.

Tomorrow of course is Halloween, so hopefully my kids will get lots of Milky Way's and I'll be able to help eat them!!

Black Bottom Cupcakes

2008-10-19T16:29:00.005-04:00

I think it's important to talk about the tragedies as well as the triumphs, so I'm going to share my Black Bottom Cupcakes experience with you. This was the recipe that caught my eye more than once when I was thumbing through the Crazy About Cupcakes book, so I decided to try them today.

Firstly, I would like to mention that this is the strangest cake batter that I have ever made. Secondly, I would like to mention that they only turned out OK. Edible, but nothing to rave about. This could have something to do with the fact that I used Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers(I always have them on hand in case I need to whip up an ice box cake) which were too big for the cupcake , so I broke them up and lay them on the bottom of the cupcake paper. And I also used regular sized choc chips. Of course the bits of broken up cookie floated to the top when I put the batter in and didn't stay on the bottom like they were supposed to. I imagine that one of the cookie halves of an Oreo would have worked well for this recipe.

The batter was really runny. And in the recipe it calls it "chocolate batter" but there is no chocolate in it, except for the cookie. Weird. Oh, and I also used whipped cream cheese, because I didn't have a block of it.

Also the recipe calls for 24 cookies, so I thought it made 2 doz cupcakes. It doesn't. If you want to give these a try, just make 12 and use more batter in the 12, I think they would turn out better.

24 round chocolate cookies
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
One 8oz package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan, or grease the pan.Place a chocolate cookie in the bottom of each liner or pan.

In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup of the sugar, the oil, and the water until blended. Stir in the vinegar and vanilla.

In a separate medium bowl mix together flour, baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt.

Add all the dry mixture to the wet mixture and beat until incorporated. Set Aside.

In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, egg, and the remaining sugar and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Fill cupcake liners or pan half full with the chocolate batter. Top with a heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture. Bake for 25-30 mins or until the edges of the cupcakes are puffed but the centers look moist. Cool cupcakes in the pan.

Foodbuzz Publisher Community Launches!!!

2008-10-14T17:54:00.003-04:00

I'm a couple of days late, but better late than never! Foodbuzz Publisher Community has officially launched. Foodbuzz was nice enough to ask me in January to become one of their Featured Publishers, so I've had a really good time being part of that community and finding lots of new food blogs to read, and I've also put up a few restaurant reviews myself. So please, if you are not already familiar with FoodBuzz, check it out. You can just click on any of the three buttons on the right.

To celebrate the launch, I recieved a fantastic apron and a nice green spatula (my son took this photo)

I'm attempting a Butternut Squash, Rosemary and Ricotta Pizza tonight, so I'll let you know how that goes!

New Books!

2008-10-07T17:07:00.010-04:00

I got a couple of new books this week (thank you Catherine)and one of them is Crazy About Cupcakes. I haven't made anything from it yet, but I will. It has really good ideas for every single occasion you could possibly think of and some really fantastic cupcake flavours. So I promise to try something from there soon.

The other book I have is The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook: Recipes from the Classic Cookie to Mocha Chip Meringue Cake,and I did make something from there this weekend.

These are called Chocolate-chip Filled Melting Moments. The Melting Moment is actually an Australian cookie, and this recipe has a nice twist to it with the creamy choc chip middle. I actually put too many choc chips in my filling and the cookies didn't stick together as much as I would have liked. The recipe also says to use about 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball for each cookie. These cookies really spread, so I would use about 1 teaspoon of dough, and you will get a much better sized cookie to make the cookie sandwiches.

Here is the recipe over at Erin Cooks. Judging by her photos she did a much better job than me getting the size right for the cookies.

ps. They were delicious.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins

2008-10-06T17:26:00.007-04:00

My latest thing before buying new recipe books that look good on Amazon, is to borrow them from my library. Luckily I have a fantastic local library, so I'm able to do this for almost any cookbook. I recently borrowed "More from Magnolia" Recipes from the World-Famous Bakery. I'm sort of disappointed with the book because there are hardly any pictures in it!! I have to have pictures!! More often than not that is what inspires me to make the dish or the cake or cookies. I think that's why I love Ina so much, she has photos of 99% of her recipes. I thought most of the the stuff was sort of ordinary, and without pictures to inspire me I didn't think I was going to make anything, until the Raspberry Cream Cheese Breakfast Buns caught my eye.

I thought they turned out well. The original recipe is for 9 large muffins, but I just made them in the size of regular muffins, because I know no one would eat a whole large muffin. The recipe made 2 dozen regular muffins.

1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Confectioner's sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and lightly flour 9 large muffin cups or 24 regular muffins. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter and sugar until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the dry ingredients in two parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Drop 3 small dollops (about a teaspoonful each) of raspberry preserves onto the top of each bun and, using the tip of a sharp knife, swirl the preserves into the batter, forming a decorative pattern.

Bake for 25-30 minutes (regular muffins - 22 mins), or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the bun comes out clean.

Allow the buns to cool for about 30 minutes before sprinkling with confectioners sugar and serving.

I also think these would probably be delicious with a slight touch of lemon, and I'm going to add some next time I make them, to see how it turns out.

One Dish Dinners!

2008-09-23T17:15:00.003-04:00

Hands up if you are happy with the new October Everyday Food. I am!! The Spicy Coconut Chicken Casserole looks fantastic, and I'm going to do that next Monday, and the Spinach and Prosciutto Lasagna also looks good. Martha doesn't have these recipes on-line, so I'll put them up when I've made them next week. There is also a nice section on slow cooker meals. I absolutely have to get a slow cooker and try some of these, which also look good for freezing.

I will be posting a menu plan for next week!!

Chicken, Asparagus Puree and Potato Rosti

2008-09-23T16:47:00.005-04:00

As promised,I made my first dish from Donna Hay Modern Classics 1 on Sunday. It was actually a side dish, and simple, but it's a start!I made it to go with a chicken and asparagus dish that I found on the Sydney Morning Herald Cuisine Section. They have a lot of fabulous recipes, but you do have to do conversions from metric.

The recipe is chicken with pureed asparagus. The puree was absolutely delicious, and I used water in my recipe instead of chicken stock, so I can only imagine how much better it would be with chicken stock. I pan fried the chicken in a small amount of olive oil, and steamed the asparagus spears.

1lb green asparagus, woody ends snapped off
1 tblspn butter
1 medium brown onion, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
salt
ground white pepper
3/4 cup water or stock
4 chicken breasts, trimmed and skin removed

Puree

Cut 4 cm long spears from asparagus top and reserve. Finely chop remaining stems. Melt butter in a small saucepan then add onion, 2 garlic cloves, season and cook gently until soft, about 15 minutes. Add asparagus stems and stock then simmer until asparagus is soft, about 10-15 minutes. Blend to a smooth puree with a stick or bar blender, keep warm.

Serves 4

Potato Rosti

4 roasting potatoes.
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme leaves
kosher salt and cracked pepper

Preheat the oven to 400F. Using a sharp vegetable peeler, but the potato into long, thin strips. Toss the potato strips with the oil, Parmesan, thyme, salt and pepper. Place the mixture in six piles on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

I also threw in some carrot for good measure. I think it turned out well, and I'll definitely be making this whole meal again!

Blogging Funk

2008-09-23T15:53:00.005-04:00

I think I'm over my blogging funk. It's been such a whirlwind lately, I haven't done any menu planning, or made anything even slightly interesting at all, until this weekend.

Last weekend I had another birthday - my daughter turned six, I made the fairy cupcakes and decorated them with pale "fairy pink" icing and some lovely multi-coloured Cachous that my mother brought me from Australia.

I made 72 cupcakes one night, because I had to have enough for the party and then enough for her whole class the next day and some left-overs for us.

Fairy Cakes - makes 12 (obviously I made lots of batches!)

½ cup unsalted butter, softened
7 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
¾ cup self-rising flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract ( I used 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to make them very vanilla) 2-3 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 400F

Put all ingredients except milk in the food processor, and process until smooth. Pulse while adding milk down the funnel, to make a soft dropping consistency.

Spoon mixture into cupcake papers and try to fill each cup equally.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the fairy cakes are cooked and golden on top.

Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

For the icing I just used powdered sugar and water. I used about 2 cups powdered sugar and then added water gradually until I got the right consistency to ice with. I coloured it with a tiny dot of the pink concentrated colour

Barefoot Bloggers

2008-09-08T11:56:00.002-04:00

Sadly, I'm going to be dropping out of the Barefoot Bloggers because twice a month is too much for me, especially when I'm not all that motivated to cook the selection. It just comes around too quickly. I liked doing it and I think it's a great idea, but I've decided it's just not for me.

Anyway, in it's place I've decided to work my way through Donna Hay's Modern Classics,and I'll be putting up something from Donna this week!

Wii Anyone?

2008-09-08T11:40:00.005-04:00

My son turned eight last week, and he's obsessed with playing the Wii and he requested a birthday cake in the shape of a Wii, and we finally settled on a cake like a Wii Remote.

I just made a simple chocolate rolled cake (here is the recipe) and then I used a Wilton Buttercream Frosting mixture because I wanted a really good consistency to work with on the rolled cake. The icing was actually delicious, I wasn't expecting it to be at all. And then I coloured some icing blue and used that for the accents.

He loved it and I think it is actually recognisable as a Wii Remote

School Has Started!!

2008-09-08T11:17:00.005-04:00

Yay - I put their smiling faces on the bus at 7:40 in the morning and they go off to a fulfilling day of learning!! So I'm finally getting the chance to update this blog of mine.

First of all, we had a great time in Vancouver. We did A LOT of eating, and there was tons to choose from. Lots of Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Crepe restaurants and coffee.

We had lunch one date at Hons Wun Tun House which was really good, and lunch another day at a Crepe Cafe, and I had a delicious Spinach and Feta Crepe. The kids had sugar and butter crepes and thought they were great!

As well as eating we did some sightseeing, we went to Capilano Suspension Bridge,and walked around Stanley Park, and even went swimming at the public pool there, although it was way to cold for me. It was only 76 outside with a brisk breeze and the water was FREEZING, but the kids went in.

And in Seattle on the way home we had dinner at Ivar's Acres of Clams. The service was great and so was the food, although the weather and the traffic are totally miserable in Seattle.

Vancouver.

2008-08-19T12:04:00.003-04:00

We are off to Vancouver tomorrow until Monday, so hopefully I'll have some beautiful photos to share when I get back. I also plan on eating a lot while I'm there, and I'll have some food photos and stories as well.

Barefoot Bloggers:Panzanella

2008-08-14T16:05:00.006-04:00

The first recipe for Barefoot Bloggers for August was Panzanella from the Barefoot Parties book. I never would have made this in a pink fit, but I'm glad I did now. It is delicious!!! I had some for lunch, but I'm sure it will taste better later when all the flavours have had time to develop. I did leave out the capers and the red bell pepper. The recipe has red and yellow peppers and I don't really care for them normally, so I just chose yellow for the added colour and put it in. I only had white wine vinegar, and I didn't want to buy a whole bottle of champagne vinegar, so I just used the white wine vinegar, as that was the closest.

Here is the recipe

I'm actually going to use the rest of it for dinner tonight. I'm roasting a chicken, so and I'm also going to do roast vegetables, but there will be a choice of roast vegetables or the Panzanella to go with the chicken. Yum.

Meringue Sandwich Cookies with White Chocolate Raspberry Filling

2008-08-12T19:23:00.004-04:00

My friend Lisa "Pierogie Fingers" came over today and we made these meringue cookies together.

We had a recipe that Lisa found on a blog and it looked great, but the first batch didn't turn out the way we anticipated and they were too "eggy", so we made up our own recipe for the meringue and they turned out much better. Lisa piped perfect little round of meringue and then it was my turn and all mine were the shape of Hershey Kisses, which isn't that good for cookie sandwiches, but they still taste good.

Lisa's perfect piping!

Recipe:

3 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream
4oz white chocolate
2 tablespoons raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment,
whip the egg whites to a peak, gradually add the
sugar and keep whipping until the peaks are stiff.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds onto parchment paper baking sheets,or you could spoon them on if you are not that good with the piping bag, they will turn out just as well .

Bake for 15 minutes, then let sit out for while you mix up the filling.

Filling

Heat the cream until hot. Drop the chocolate and jam into the cream and stir until all are melted
and come together. Let cool until firm enough to pipe or spoon onto the meringue shells. I refrigerated mine to make it harden quicker and it's also easier to spread.

Where Have I Been?

2008-08-12T17:59:00.004-04:00

In the basement watching the Olympics on my HD TV!!! It's just like being there. I'm loving it (while hating NBC's coverage - but that's a whole other post)

Since we returned from our beach weekend, I didn't really cook anything spectacular or do much of anything. So I'm deathly boring this past week.

Beef Stroganoff

2008-07-31T18:51:00.003-04:00

I just made Elle's Beef Stroganoff and Marc has declared it best dish ever in the world and wants me to make 5 gallons of it, so he can eat it every night. So, therefore, Highly Recommended!!! Thanks Elle!

I'll be out of town until Sunday, we are going to the beach, so hopefully I'll have some lovely beach photos next week.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

2008-07-30T12:53:00.004-04:00

Mercifully, my 7yr old decided that he would finally get his hair cut this week, and let's face it, he's had crazy boy hair since school ended. And I only had to bribe him with a chocolate donut.

Thai Fried Rice with Soft Yolk Egg

2008-07-26T19:49:00.002-04:00

This recipe for Thai Fried Rice with Soft Yolk Egg was in the Washington Post Food section last week. Normally all the recipes in the Washington Post look great, but are totally tiresome to make, and I could never be bothered, but this looked so good,and relatively easy that I had to try it.

I made sure that I chopped everything up first and had all the sauces out ready to go, because it's a really quick cooking process, and I cheated a bit, because I had Marc fry the eggs while I was finishing off the fried rice, so it was all ready at the same time. I cooked the rice earlier in the day and then let it cool, and then refrigerated it for a few hours before I made the fried rice.

This recipe is actually for one serving, so I just doubled everything as I did it. You can also add chicken or shrimp to this. I stuck with the mushroom, but next time I make it, I think I'd do it with shrimp, just to fill it out a bit more.

I thought it turned out really well,and would be great with or without the egg.

Ingredients for ONE Seving

1 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil
8 medium cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 cup oyster mushrooms, cleaned (may substitute other mushrooms of your choice)
1 cup cold cooked white rice
2 scallions, white and green parts, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices
1 medium tomato, cored and coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons fish sauce, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce, plus more to taste
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
1/2 small cucumber, cut into thin slices (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 medium lime, cut into wedges
Directions:

Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over high heat until a drop of water vaporizes within a second or two.

Swirl in the oil to coat the sides and bottom, then add the garlic and stir-fry for about 20 seconds, until the garlic is just golden. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for about 1 to 2 minutes, until they have softened.

Add the rice, breaking it up with your fingers as you toss it into the wok. Use a heatproof spatula to keep the rice moving for 2 to 3 minutes, scooping and tossing and pressing the rice against the bottom and sides of the wok to sear it. Add the scallions, tomato, fish sauce and soy sauce; stir-fry for 30 seconds or until the tomatoes break up and the scallions slightly soften. Transfer the mixture to a dinner plate.

Wipe out the wok and return it to the heat. Break the egg into a small bowl, then gently add to the wok. Add the water, then cover and cook, undisturbed, for 1 or 2 minutes, or until the yolk lightly films over but is still soft. Carefully lift out the egg and place it atop the rice.

Garnish with the cilantro, overlapping cucumber slices and wedges of lime.

Barefoot Bloggers: Smoked Salmon Spread

2008-07-24T06:00:00.000-04:00

The second recipe for Barefoot Bloggers this month was the Smoked Salmon Spread from Barefoot Contessa Family Style.

I really like this spread,and it was very easy to make,but I have a confession. I left out the horseradish, because I absolutely hate the taste of it,and put in slightly more lemon juice than the recipe says to do. It's also really nice with some fresh dill on top as well as in the spread. And it definitely tastes better the next day!

I was surprised that the spread was mixed using the mixer and not the food processor,but I guess doing it in the mixer lets it stay slightly chunky.

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish, drained
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 pound (4 ounces) smoked salmon, minced

Cream the cheese in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until just smooth. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, dill, horseradish, salt, and pepper, and mix. Add the smoked salmon and mix well. Chill and serve with crudites or crackers.

Flounder with Vegetable Cous Cous

2008-07-21T18:35:00.003-04:00

We had this for dinner tonight. It's from Everyday Food. Here is the recipe. I have to be honest, I didn't like it at all. I guess steamed fish isn't that great. However, I think it looks good in the photo! And it was super easy to put together. So if you want a quick, tasteless dinner, give this a try. The best part was the mustard viniagrette.

Gazpacho!!

2008-07-20T14:21:00.009-04:00

Doesn't gazpacho sound like an exclamation of something good? Like you could use it on a happy occasion? "oh, you're getting married! Gazpacho!" And it sort of makes you feel like that after you have eaten some for lunch. My friend Nancy made some on Friday with fresh tomatoes from her garden, and she shared it with me, as I gave her the recipe from Ina's original Barefoot Contessa book.

I thought it turned out really well, fresh and fabulous. The parmesan croutons topped it off very nicely! Just the perfect thing for a day like today when it is 95F in the shade, in my backyard.

Here's the recipe.

Great job with the gazpacho, Nancy! Gazpacho!!

Bored!!

2008-07-16T11:13:00.004-04:00

This week is so boring at my house. Last week was a frenzy of activity with camps and what not, but this week is sort of dead. And I have no enthusiasm for cooking - anything! Last night we had the salmon tacos again, and on Monday we had some breaded turkey breast cutlet thingys that I got at Wegmans on the weekend. I don't usually shop at Wegmans, but they are the only supermarket in my area now carrying the Hershey's Dutch Processes Cocoa Powder. Giant and Safeway are not stocking it anymore for some strange reason.

I have no clue what we are going to have tonight, but I'm sure it's going to be totally lame and involve some kind of pasta.

The good news is that I did find a great recipe for Beef Stroganoff over at Elle's New England Kitchen so I might conjure some of that up tomorrow night. It's not really the season for it, but I really feel like it!

In the mean time, here are some of my hydrangeas:

She did it!!

2008-07-11T09:37:00.003-04:00

She did it!! My five year old has been at her first Girl Scout Camp all week, and the theme this year is the Wild West, so of course there were pony rides. This is a girl who has always been petrified of animals and won't even let a kitten come near her, so I was amazed when she got on the pony!

I was volunteering for two days at camp as one of the photo takers. Each camper had her photo taken on a pony and then they made photo frames as a keepsake. Which means that I was lucky enough to be right on the spot when she rode the pony.

She lasted three quarters of the way around and then asked to get off and ran crying to me, but I was thrilled that she even attempted it!

Barefoot Bloggers: Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread

2008-07-10T21:28:00.005-04:00

The first of the Barefoot Bloggers recipes for this month is Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread. This recipe is something I would never normally consider making, because I don't like cornbread or jalapenos, but of course, I gave it a shot anyway. I did change one thing in the recipe and used the cast iron pan to cook it in. And I did read the comments that some other Barefoot Bloggers had very helpfully left, and used only one stick of butter and it turned out well.

I really liked the texture and the taste of the cornbread with the sharp cheddar, but it didn't like the flavour of the jalapenos at all. I would make it again but minus the scallions and the jalapenos.

Here is the recipe if you want to give it a try!

Rosemary Fried Chicken

2008-07-04T17:29:00.009-04:00

Ever since I moved here to the US I've always wanted to be able to make a really good fried chicken, but it's sort of difficult, especially to know when the chicken is cooked and also not that good for you, but I came across a recipe for half fried and then finished off in the oven,(from Everyday Food)and I thought that was the perfect solution. Also it was very easy! I used the side burner on the grill so I wouldn't get oil spat all over the kitchen, and except for the rain, that was a good idea.

I served it with a pasta,celery and red onion salad. (recipe below)

Ingredients

8 chicken legs and 8 chicken thighs (about 3 1/2 pounds total)
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves, plus 4 sprigs
2 cups vegetable oil, such as safflower

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Line one large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; place a wire rack over a second rimmed baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine chicken, buttermilk, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; set aside (or refrigerate up to 2 days).

In another large bowl, whisk together flour, paprika, chopped rosemary, 1 tablespoon salt, and 2 teaspoons pepper. Lift chicken from buttermilk, a few pieces at a time (allowing excess to drip off), and dredge in flour mixture (shaking off excess); transfer to foil-lined sheet. Dredge chicken in flour mixture a second time; return to sheet.

In a 12-inch cast-iron skillet (or a 5-quart Dutch oven), heat oil and rosemary sprigs over medium-high. When rosemary sizzles rapidly, remove and discard. In three batches, fry chicken until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes per side; transfer to prepared rack. (If chicken browns too quickly, reduce heat.)

Remove foil; set a rack on that baking sheet. Transfer half the chicken to this empty rack. Bake chicken on both racks until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of a thigh registers 165, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving. (To store, let cool, then layer between paper towels; refrigerate up to 1 day. If desired, bring to room temperature before serving.)

Pasta Salad

1 pound medium pasta shells (I used bowties!)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup light mayonnaise
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
6 celery stalks, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise, plus 1 cup celery leaves
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped

Directions

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente; drain and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise and lemon juice. Add celery stalks and leaves, onion, and cooled pasta; season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine.

Spinach Grapes and Almonds

2008-07-04T09:33:00.003-04:00

I dutifully made Thursday nights recipe last night.Steak with a side of Spinach, grapes and almonds.I did not like it at all. And it didn't look that good so I didn't take a picture. That combination of spinach, grapes and balsamic didn't really sit well with me. So that's too bad!!

Here is the recipe from Everyday Food

So, forging ahead with the recipes, tonight, especially for the 4th July, is Rosemary Fried Chicken. The chicken is already soaking in the buttermilk!

Chicken Salad Veronique

2008-07-03T12:40:00.003-04:00

I made this Chicken Salad for lunch yesterday when a friend came over. It's totally delicious and the grapes really make it. I was a bit hesitant about this recipe at first, because of the grapes, but they are really delicious with the chicken. I had to substitute fresh tarragon for dried, because I couldn't get any fresh, but I think it worked out just fine.

I cooked the split breasts the night before at the same time I made dinner,so it's also an energy efficient lunch!

The recipe is from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa At Home,and the only substitution I made was for dried tarragon for fresh.

4 split chicken breasts,bone in, skin on
olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good mayonnaise
11/2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1 cup small-diced celery (2 stalks)
1 cup green grapes, cut in half.

Roast the chicken breasts as you normally would - about 35-40 mins in a 350 degree oven. Set aside and cool.

When the chicken is cooked, remove the meat form the bones and discard the skin and bones. Cut the chicken into a 3/4 inch dice. Place the chicken in a bowl; add the mayonnaise, tarragon leaves, celery, grapes 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and toss well.

Spaghetti,Bacon,Green Beans and Basil

2008-07-03T12:38:00.001-04:00

I did make Wednesday's dinner of Spaghetti,Bacon,Green Beans and Basil last night, but I forgot to take a photo of it. It looked exactly as you would imagine it to!

Chicken Thighs, Zucchini and CousCous

2008-07-01T20:04:00.008-04:00

Tonights dinner from the weeks menu was Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and CousCous.It was nice. Not spectacular but nice. I did like the red-wine vinegar in the couscous, and next time I would definitely put more vinegar in it.

Here is the recipe.

Asparagus, Sun Dried Tomato and Ricotta Pizza

2008-06-30T19:05:00.004-04:00

So here is Monday's dinner. Pizza with Asparagus, Sun Dried Tomato and Ricotta. It was delicious. I grilled the scallions and the asparagus,and tossing them in some sun dried tomato oil was just brilliant, and then cooked the pizza in the regular oven. The recipe calls for grilling the pizza dough as well, but I didn't want to try it tonight, because if it failed, there was nothing else for dinner. I also made the kids a cheese pizza.

And for the pizza dough - I make my own with one of Ina's recipes, but store bought (Trader Joe's is a good one) would do just as well.

Here's the recipe.

A Weeks Menu

2008-06-30T13:19:00.003-04:00

I mentioned last week that I was going to challenge myself and do a whole weeks menu from one of the Everyday Food magazines.

I chose the menu this morning, it's from the June 2008 Everyday Food. "Weeknight Wonders" starting on page 81. I have made one subsitution only. Monday in the Everyday Food Menu was "Tuna Steaks with Lemony Tomatoes and Onion" and I'm subsituting the Rosemary Fried Chicken from the same magazine.

So here is the weeks menu. I will be posting each dish so you can see how it turns out.

Tonight:

Grilled Pizzas with Asparagus and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Tuesday:

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and Couscous

Wednesday:

Spaghetti with Pancetta, Green beans and Basil

Thursday:

Steak with spinach, grapes and almonds

Friday:

Rosemary Fried Chicken

I am going to be making a couple of incidental subsitutions, and I'll write those up when I make each dish.

FoodBuzz!!

2008-06-29T11:59:00.004-04:00

Surprise! I got this in the mail yesterday from FoodBuzz! Thank you! A very nice little bag for shopping at the farmers market .

And it even has a button on it with my bog name! The person who got all the right buttons in the right envelopes was very vigilant.

and ps: Tastespotting is back under new management!!

Eat My Words

2008-06-27T10:49:00.005-04:00

Well, I'm already having to eat my words regarding the July/August Everyday Food. I had the magazine sitting on my desk and I just thumbed through it again and came across a recipe for Bay Scallop Stir Fry. I was desperate for a dinner idea, I knew I had some scallops in the freezer, so I decided to give it a try. I didn't really like the sauce, it wasn't quite right, but it was OK, we ate it. And I also didn't have most of the other ingredients, so I substituted!

Serve this dish over rice!

Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
1 red bell pepper (ribs, seeds removed, thinly sliced) I used green beans instead
2 bunches of scallions, white and green parts separated (left it out because I didn't have any!)
2 carrots, halved lengthwise or quartered if large and cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths (I actually had carrots!!)
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 pound bay scallops, patted dry (I just used the small ones in the bag from Costco).

Prepare rice whichever way you like.

Whisk together vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Set sauce aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high. Add bell pepper , scallion whites, carrots and ginger; cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots are crisp-tender, 4 to 5 mins. Add scallops and scallion greens, cook, stirring occasionally, until scallops are cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes.

Whisk sauce briefly, and add to skillet; cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Serve scallop stir-fry over rice.

I also found a Strawberry Cream Cake recipe which I'm going to try. I have one from Ina which is fantastic, but this one only has 1 stick of butter in it, and Ina usually has a lot more than that!

Barefoot Bloggers: Parmesan Chicken

2008-06-26T08:00:00.003-04:00

This delicious dish for Barefoot Bloggers was no hardship at all. My whole family loves this and my 5yr old even asked for seconds, which is practically unheard of!

I've made this once or twice before,but never with the lemon vinaigrette and the arugula salad, and those two things really enhanced the whole dish and made it that extra bit special.

The breading process is one step longer than normal, or at least the way I usually do it, but it's worth it.

Here's the recipe!

New Challenges

2008-06-25T16:45:00.004-04:00

And having just said this about Martha and Everyday Food, my new challenge to myself for next weeks dinners is, choose one of the Everyday Magazines that I have and make every dinner for a week that they suggest in one of their "week of dinners" sections. I haven't chosen it yet, but I'll post the whole menu when I do.

Tonight we are having the Garlic and Parmesan Turkey Burgers!

Disappointed

2008-06-25T16:38:00.004-04:00

The July/August 2008 is the most disappointing edition of Everyday Food Magazine ever. I'm usually marking off every second page when I get my magazine, and and I always try at least two or three things out straight away. This time... nothing. Not one thing in here looks even remotely appealing to me, or it's a rehash or twist on a recipe that I've already tried. I'd love to hear if anyone else feels the same about this one, or it's just me.

School

2008-06-17T16:35:00.002-04:00

Last day of school today. Sigh.

Hooray!!!

2008-06-15T16:58:00.003-04:00

Food Gawker to the rescue!!!! In the absence of Tastespotting, some lovely people have started Food Gawker, a similar site to Tastespotting, where we can all happily browse, find new blogs and get some new readers ourselves. Thank you Food Gawker!!!

Weekend Cooking

2008-06-15T16:08:00.005-04:00

This weekend I've made a few things but nothing new. I made Nana's Sponge Cake again, but this time I divided the batter into three 8" pans, because I wanted to see how a tripple layer worked. If you want to make this in 3 layers it only takes about 13-15 mins to cook.

It was sort of a waste of time to do the three layers because it didn't really make it better, only more lopsided - so next time I'm sticking with the two layers. Here's a bad photo:

All the raspberries and cream were slipping off the other side of the cake. It still tasted good. I think I was in a total funk putting the cake together because I had just learned about the demise of Tastespotting.

I also made these chocolate chip cookies for Marc for Fathers Day, and I put together a French Onion Dip from Ina.

It doesn't look much in this picture, but it is really delicious. I usually make and just fry up the onions inside, but this time I used the side burner on the grill and did them in a cast iron skillet and it added a lot of flavour and as a bonus didn't stink up the house.

2 large yellow onions
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Cut up the onions in slices and then halve them, or however you want really - I don't think it makes a difference . Heat the the butter and the oil in a large saute pan on medium heat. Add the onions, cayenne, salt and pepper and saute for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes, until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow to cool.

Place cream cheese, mayonnaise and sour cream in the bowl of an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, and beat until smooth, add the onions and mix well.

This makes a TON of dip. You would have to have 50 people over to eat all this in one session, so I sometimes halve the recipe and it's about the right amount to snack on before dinner.

Tastespotting Is Gone.

2008-06-13T08:34:00.003-04:00

Inexplicably Tastespotting.com has disappeared due to "legal complications" and no one has heard anything or read anything about it!

This is really disappointing to a lot of food bloggers for a lot of reasons. Not only was Tastespotting a fantastic place to discover new blogs and great recipes, it was fun to look at and also had the added bonus of driving traffic to my site when I submitted something and it was accepted.

I really hope that something similar is created so that all the small food bloggers out there (like me!) get a chance to have their hard work seen by a wider audience.

Barefoot Bloggers: Pasta, Pesto & Peas

2008-06-12T18:16:00.006-04:00

This is my first recipe for Barefoot Bloggers. Ina's Pesto, Pasta and Peas from the Barefoot Parties Book. Here is the recipe.

I made it slightly different from the recipe, namely totally forgot to put the spinach in and then only used bowtie pasta, as I already had it in the house and did shaved parmesan on the top, not grated. It is still yummy without the spinach,and to be honest, tastes a lot better than I thought it would. It's an easy weeknight dinner and it's surprisingly light!

Chipmunk Update...

2008-06-11T14:32:00.002-04:00

I recently posted that chipmunks and squirrels were digging up my basil,and I hooked up an ingenious device to scare them away. Chipmunks are not afraid of ribbon!!! They are still digging. Solutions anyone?

ps.Tomorrow I will be blogging my first recipe for Barefoot Bloggers!

Fakehetti

2008-06-11T14:20:00.004-04:00

Last night,for something different and healthy I tried the Trader Joe's Brown Rice Spaghetti Pasta. I was worried about how it would turn out and if it would taste just like regular spaghetti, but I shouldn't have worried at all. It turned out really well and you couldn't tell the difference. The rice spaghetti passed the biggest test of all, my 7 yr old, who loves regular spaghetti and I thought he might notice immediately, but he shoveled it in,no problems.

You could tell when cooking it, that it was different because the water went really white, and you definitely needed to rinse it in hot water once it was drained, but it served up and sat on the plate just like wheat spaghetti. If you were on a gluten free diet this would be a life saver!

I served it with a shrimp and tomato sauce.

You won't save calories or carbs eating this, I compared it to a regular spaghetti and it was the same, but it is made from organic brown rice and water, so it is definitely better for you than pasta made from processed wheat.

10th Anniversary Cake

2008-06-01T14:22:00.003-04:00

Today is our 10th Wedding Anniversary and I was surprised with a lovely pair of diamond earrings!! I couldn't have been more shocked. So I was really pleased that I promised to make Marc a Devils Food Cake for our anniversary.

I used a recipe from Martha Stewart Holiday Halloween 2007 and it turned out really well. Much better than the last time I did one of these cakes from Martha.

It's your typical Martha recipe, you have to use your mixer, two bowls and a saucepan, but it is worth it, because the cake is really moist and chocolaty and the icing is fantastic.

The recipe calls for two 8" cake pans, but you could even put it in three pans, there is so much batter it fill the pans right to the top.

Here is the recipe. I didn't alter it one bit for my first try, and it really doesn't need any tweaking. This cake will probably become the standard birthday cake that I make from now on. It's that good!

Barefoot Bloggers

2008-06-01T14:12:00.004-04:00

I just joined Barefoot Bloggers and we are going to be posting two Ina recipes per month. I have all the Ina Garten books and love her recipes, so this should be a lot of fun. The members get to choose which recipes we are going to do, so I will be attempting lots of things I probably wouldn't choose to cook normally - which has to be a good thing!!

Oprah's Turkey Burger

2008-05-29T09:20:00.004-04:00

Last night I made Oprah's favourite turkey burger which she featured on her Summer Favourite Things show a couple of Friday's ago.

Huge disappointment. I followed the recipe, except for the fact that I forgot to buy celery. The burgers fell apart on the grill and made a big mess. I managed to salvage them enough to serve and they were only OK. I used a mango and lime chutney, which was very nice on it's own. Oprah's chef used a pear chutney, but I couldn't find any of that at my local Giant.

I'm glad I gave them a try, but I'll be sticking with my own Garlic Parmesan Turkey Burgers from now on.

Desperate Times...

2008-05-28T16:24:00.004-04:00

...call for desperate measures. The chipmunks are eating my basil!! I didn't have this problem last year at all, but they are going to town on it this year. Two weeks ago I planted 5 basil plants and 2 cilantro. The cilantro are still fully intact but 4 out of 5 basil plants had been eaten and dug up!!

So, I bought 4 new plants today and fashioned this very scary "thing" to keep the chipmunks at bay. There is no way I can go all summer without tons of fresh basil outside my kitchen door!

Pan Fried Shrimp and Green Curry Cashew Dipping Sauce

2008-05-27T18:41:00.006-04:00

Tonight for dinner we had some shrimp with this delicious green curry cashew dipping sauce, some rice and an Asian carrot salad that was just delicious. This dipping sauce was really yum, and the good news is you can prepare it a day in advance if you are pressed for time. This would also be lovely for an appetiser platter with shrimp. The recipe is from the Everyday Food book.

1 slice (1/4 inch thick) peeled fresh ginger
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons roasted unsalted cashews
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 cup packed cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon curry powder
Coarse salt

In a food processor, pulse ginger until finely chopped. Add 3/4 cup cashews; process until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add yogurt, cilantro, sugar, and curry powder; season with salt. Process until incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down sides as needed. Transfer to a serving bowl; sprinkle with remaining cashews. Serve with shrimp, or toss with steamed vegetables. Refrigerate, covered, up to 3 days.

For the Asian Carrot salad I grated 4 carrots an then made a dressing of:

2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely choppe.
Salt and pepper
Mix it all together and toss with the carrot.

Rustic Apple Tart

2008-05-25T14:49:00.004-04:00

I'm really on a roll this weekend. Along with the Lamingtons and the Sour Cream Choc Cake I also made a Rustic Apple Tart from the Everyday Food book.

It was really easy. The most time consuming part was peeling the apples.

Flour for work surface
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (thawed)
3 granny smith apples
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water for egg wash
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons apple jelly or apricot jam

Preheat the oven to 375F. On a lightly floured work surface roll out the pastry sheet (still folded to an 8 x 14 inch rectangle. Trim the edges with a sharp paring knife. Transfer to a baking sheet; place in the freezer. Peel, core and slice the apples 1/4 inch thick. Toss in a large bowl with the sugar.

Brush the pastry with the egg wash, avoiding the edges. Use a sharp paring knife to score a 3/4 inch border around the pastry(do not cut all the way through). Place the apples inside the border and dot with the butter. Bake until the pastry is golden and the apples are tender, 30 to 35 mins.

In the microwave or a small saucepan, heat the jelly with 1 tablespoon water until melted. Brush the apples with the glaze. Serve the tart warm or at room temperature, cutting into pieces with a serrated knife.

UPDATE: We ate it tonight with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I thought it turned out well - the apricot jam made it nice and sweet and sticky

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake....

2008-05-24T16:01:00.004-04:00

....which also has sour cream chocolate icing. This is a cake from Nigella's Domestic Goddess, and I've made it a couple of times before with great success. It's actually two 8" rounds with the frosting in between as well as on the top and sides. I serve it with raspberries, which are quite magnificent at the moment.

Butter two 8-inch cake pans, and line with parchment or wax paper.

CAKE:

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons soft unsalted butter
3 tablespoons best cocoa
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sour cream
2 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

ICING:

3oz milk chocolate
3oz bittersweet chocolate
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 cups confections’ sugar, sifted
½ teaspoon hot water

Pre heat the oven to 350F.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Then using and electric mixer, add the butter. In a wide-mouthed measuring cup, whisk together the cocoa, sour cream, eggs and vanilla, then slowly add this cocoa mixture to the ingredients in the bowl, beating until thoroughly mixed.

Pour the batter in the prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes; when they’re ready the cakes should be starting to shrink back form the edges of the tins. Leave for 10 minutes n their pans on racks, then turn out to cool.

To make the icing, melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave, or in a bowl over hot water. Let cool a little, then stir in the sour cream, vanilla, and syrup. Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and a little hot water, blending until smooth. When you’ve got the texture right – thick enough to cover but supple enough to spread, adding more sugar or water as required – you can ice the cakes.

Cut four strips of baking parchment and make and outline of a square with them on a flat plate. Sit one layer on top of the paper pieces, spread with icing, sit the second layer on top and used the rest of the icing to cover the top and sides.

Mini Lamingtons

2008-05-24T15:22:00.006-04:00

I've gone a bits nuts on the baking for Memorial Day weekend. Today I made Mini Lamingtons, and also a Sour Cream Chocolate Cake. I just love lamingtons, they are a taste of home for me. A very traditional Australian spongy cake, dipped in chocolate and then coconut. Messy to make, but worth it.

I found this recipe for the Mini Lamingtons in the cuisine section of the Sydney Morning Herald and I just converted it to imperial measurements and it worked really well.

1 stick soft butter, chopped
3/4 cup super fine sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1 3/4 cups shredded coconut **

For the icing
2 tablespoons soft butter
3 1/4 cups icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tablespoons Dutch cocoa
5 ounces boiling water

Preheat oven to 350F.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in combined sifted flour and baking powder alternating with milk and stir until smooth. Spoon mixture into a greased and lined square tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Stand in tin for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool. Wrap in plastic wrap and store for 1 day.

For the icing

Combine all ingredients with 5 ounces boiling water and mix until smooth. This mixture will be very runny.

Cut cake into approximately 1" squares and dip each one into icing, then into coconut.

Place lamingtons on a wire rack for 1-2 hours or until dry.

Makes about 45.

** I used dessicated coconut for this recipe, only because my mother had just brought me some over from Australia, but shredded will work just as well.

Tip: I use two forks to handle the cake squares and dip them in the chocolate and then the coconut. Let the chocolate drip off a bit before you put it in the coconut.

Mushroom and Leek Tart

2008-05-23T19:08:00.003-04:00

We had a very light summer dinner tonight, to celebrate the fact that the temperature actually hit 70 here in Virginia. I still have my heat on here for the mornings, where it has been a crisp 51 degrees!

I made the Leek Tart from June's Everyday Food. They had lots of really good recipes this month and I'm making a few more this weekend which I will post.

I modified the recipe a bit by adding mushrooms to the leeks and then I served it with some roasted chicken.

Here's is the recipe. I diced up the mushrooms and added them about 5 minutes after the leeks had started to cook. For the pastry, I bought the Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry. I just can't make pastry like that, and this is supposed to be an easy dinner!

It was delicious!

Food Glorious Food Part 3....

2008-05-18T16:41:00.004-04:00

And we barely let a day go by without one of these....

The Mickey shaped icecream!!!! Yum. This is my mother enjoying one at Animal Kingdom.

Food Glorious Food Part 2....

2008-05-18T16:15:00.006-04:00

Emeril's was great. I had a flash fried oyster salad to start with and then the Grilled Prime Rib Eye Country Style Mashed Potatoes, Emeril’s Homemade Worcestershire Sauce and Crispy Onions, and Marc had grouper topped with crab, which was on the daily specials. The service was really good. Emeril's also has the most outrageous wine list I have ever seen. It's about 20 pages long and some bottles on there are over $1,000. It was fun to look over and dream about! I had a glass of red from France, but unfortunately I can't remember what it was, and I wasn't taking notes!

Wolfgang Puck Cafe was a much simpler affair, with really good food. I had a big Margarita to drink and a wonderful individual pizza margherita.

I didn't really think the service was that good, but it was really busy, and also very loud, which has to be difficult for the servers.

Marc said he wanted a light meal, so ordered the Cobb Salad. Hahahahah. He was presented with this:

It was huge!! But the one of the best boiled eggs I've ever had!!

Food Glorious Food Part 1....

2008-05-18T15:28:00.006-04:00

We had some fantastic culinary experiences in Orlando. We ate at Emeril's, Wolfgang Puck Cafe and at two restaurants in Disney.The Chefs De France in Epcot, and then a character dinner in Magic Kingdom.

I was really surprised how great the French restaurant was. I thought it was going to be OK, but I was thrilled that it was so nice. Everything was totally French, the decor, waiters and food. The executive chefs/partners are Paul Bocuse (and this restaurant is managed by his son!), Gaston Lenotre and Roger Verge

We all had something different. My parents had this wonderful looking dish:

It's Noix De Saint Jacques et gambas sautees Flan e'epinards, sauce a l'oseille or in other words Sauteed scallops and black tiger shrimp served with spinach flan and sorrel sauce. They said it was delicious.

I had the Jarret d'agneau, riz complet et carottes, which translated is Braised lamb shank, black perl rice medley and carrots. Divine. I love lamb.

Marc had "The Menu", which was Onion Soup, Roasted chicken with basil mashed potatoes and braised tomato topped off with Vanilla creme brulee. The only thing that was a bit disappointing was that the Creme Brulee was served stone cold and all the sugar on top had not been caramelised properly. That was probably a time issue though.

The kids menu was great with nice vegetables and fish and also chicken and pasta - although I'm sure that any kid that has been walking around Epcot all day will eat anything because they are really hungry!!

All in all I was thrilled with this restaurant, and would definitely eat there again given the opportunity!

Disney Was a Blast!

2008-05-18T15:20:00.003-04:00

I'm back! We all had a fabulous time at Disney. The weather was great and the parks were not crowded at all. The longest wait we had on anything was 20 mins, most rides were 5 or 10 mins and the only rides we had to fast pass were Space Mountain and Peter Pan's Flight. My daughter got to meet 3 different princesses as well as Peter Pan and Wendy and Donald Duck. Mickey was MIA except for the parades. We did a character dinner and Minnie, Goofy and Pluto showed up, but still no Mickey!

I got to ride a Segway at Epcot, which was fun. We only got to do a small loop, but it was better than nothing and I've never been on one before. You basically make it go forward by putting a bit a weight on your toes. It's quite incredible!

I also enjoyed the availability of the frozen margaritas at Epcot, and you could walk around with them! I really loved the world showcase, and thought they did a great job of making each country as authentic as possible.

I'll talk about the food in the next post. Needless to say I ate a lot, but I felt I could get away with it because I walked around the parks for about 10 hours a day.

BAM!!

2008-04-29T16:42:00.004-04:00

I won't be posting for over a week, as we are heading to Orlando early Friday morning, and I'm unsure of the availability of internet connection where we are staying. My parents are coming in from Australia and we are spending the week at Disney.

Marc and I will be having dinner at Emeril's Orlando on Tuesday night, so I'm hoping to get some good photos of that dinner, although I'm not sure how kindly it will be looked on if I pull out my camera and start taking photos, but I'm going to try.

We are actually staying at a time share which is not a Disney property, but we are eating at the Chefs de France in Epcot on Monday night.

I'll be back in a week!!

Saturday night omelette......

2008-04-26T19:01:00.007-04:00

We are getting ready to drive to Orlando on Friday, so this weekend is "eat out the frigde festival". My husband offered to make omelettes for dinner, and I quickly agreed. He used to be the buffet custom order egg cook at the Elks Club. They turned out really well and we ate up the mushrooms!!

2 eggs + 1/2 teaspoon water.
3 diced mushrooms
3 pieces julienned sun dried tomatoes
2-3 tablespoons cheese - we used Cheddar
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Pinch of parsley

Mix two eggs with 1/2 teaspoon of water and a pinch of parsley. Whip vigorously, set aside.

Dice mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and saute in a little butter until liquid from the mushrooms evaporates. Thinly slice cheese.

Heat pan to medium, spray lightly with PAM. Pour egg mixture in and let it form a skin. Cook until top is almost completely cooked. Lay the cheese on the omelette down the middle, and then put the mushroom and sundried tomato mixture on top of the cheese. Fold into thirds with the overlapped side on the bottom.

Cook long enough for the cheese to melt and the remaining eggs to cook. At medium heat the egg should not turn brown. The cooking time is no more than 5 mins.

Orange Pound Cake

2008-04-23T15:44:00.007-04:00

Apparently I've become obsessed with orange cake after the last try from the retro recipe box. I decided to try Ina's version (from Barefoot Contessa Family Style) this weekend and see how it turned out. I also happened to have half a bag of oranges and I like to use my juicer attachment on the kitchen aid.

I liked how it turned out - it was a lot more moist than the Orange Velvet Cake, but I still wasn't really sold. The orange is nice, but it's just not as good as a lemon flavour, in my opinion. The bittersweet chocolate buttons that I used on the top gave it a nice lift!!

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has a fantastic orange cake recipe that they would like to share!

½ pound unsalted butter (2 sticks)
2 ½ cups granulated sugar - divided
4 extra-large eggs (at room temperature)
1/3 cup grated orange zest (6 oranges)
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice - divided
¾ cup buttermilk at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Glaze
1 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease two 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ -inch loaf pans. Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, and the orange zest.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine ¼ cup orange juice, the buttermilk and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Combine ½ cup granulated sugar with ½ cup orange juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves and makes a syrup. When the cakes are done, let them cool for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a rack set over a tray, and spoon the orange syrup over the cakes. Allow the cakes to cool completely.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and orange juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the top of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.

Weekend Dinners

2008-04-22T15:58:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted for a few days as nothing really remarkable has come out of the kitchen since Thursday night! I can't even remember what we had for dinner on Friday night - so it must not have been amazing. On Saturday we had Indian. I don't make it from scratch, I use the Kitchens of India Butter Chicken paste, and also their Palak Paneer. I tried making my own chapati as well, and it was a bit of a disaster. I don't think I had enough water in the dough. Anyway, they all burned a bit and tasted like paper, so that was a waste of time and flour.

Sunday I made Thai Chicken and Noodle Salad from the ever trusty May 2008 Everyday Food. I thought it turned out nicely and was really easy to put together.

I've had some very successful Asian dinners from the Everyday Food. I've done a Green Chicken Curry, Cashew Chicken, the Thai Chicken Salad and a light salad with cilantro dressing and chicken and cashews.

We are going to have the Turkey Burgers again tonight. I need a full stomach so I can deal with Andrew Lloyd Webber night on American Idol and then of course, Hell's Kitchen!!!! I wonder what Gordon with throw on the wall tonight?

Hells Kitchen - Chop up a Chicken

2008-04-18T16:54:00.005-04:00

On Tuesdays Hells Kitchen no one messed up the risotto much to my disappointment. In fact, it looked like they actually served some risottos to Gordon's standard. Boo.

The task tonight was to cut up a chicken in eight pieces and do it properly. Ramsay demonstrated. I really hate the camera work in these segments because there is always something blocking the shot and you can't clearly see how he's doing it. I'm sure I'm not alone wishing that you could see that properly, I'd love to see him really demonstrate that.

Needless to say the dinner service was horrible, although less horrible than the last two weeks, and some people actually got their appetisers.

Then everyone started to burn meat, under cook salmon and set the range on fire and Gordon banged his head repeatedly on the counter top and then complained of a headache and then Shut. It. Down.

Can't wait for next week.

Chicken Fajita Tostadas

2008-04-17T19:55:00.004-04:00

We had the Chicken Fajita Tostadas again tonight. Delicious. The recipe is from April's Everyday Food and it's a really easy, healthy, quick dinner.

I made a few changes to the original recipe:

1 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 or 3 bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced (I used 1/2 each of yellow, orange and red bell peppers)
1 box (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels ( I used the frozen Roasted Corn Kernels from Trader Joe's)
1 cup prepared fresh salsa
2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
4 corn tortillas (6-inch)
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. On foil, combine onions, bell peppers, corn, 1/4 cup salsa (I used a lot more than this. The first time I made it 1/4 cup was not enough), and 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper.

Roast, tossing occasionally, until vegetables are tender and lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Add chicken, stir to combine, and continue to roast until warmed through, 5 minutes more. Transfer chicken and vegetable mixture to a serving bowl, discarding foil (reserve sheet).

Arrange tortillas on sheet. Dividing evenly, brush with remaining tablespoon oil; top with cheese. Bake until edges are golden and cheese is melted, 5 to 8 minutes.
Dividing evenly, top tortillas with chicken-vegetable mixture and remaining 3/4 cup salsa.

These have been a huge hit both times I've made them.

ps. Haven't watched Tuesday's Hell's Kitchen yet, so I don't know if Gordon disapproved of anyones risotto!!!

Dinner

2008-04-16T18:27:00.001-04:00

We had this for dinner tonight. An oldy but a goody!

Just in time for Hell's Kitchen tonight...

2008-04-15T18:59:00.009-04:00

I made a mushroom and pea risotto for dinner. First time I've ever made one. Gordon Ramsay, please come to my house for dinner and I'll make you a risotto that hopefully, you won't throw against the wall. Everyone ate it up no problem except my 7 yr old, but he did eat some of it, just picked out the mushrooms, onion and peas. Sigh.

The basic recipe for the risotto is is from April's Everyday Food. It's a bit time consuming and you have to prep everything before you start, but the dish turned out really well and was easy. If it's so easy, what's the problem? Every person Gordon Ramsay has ever met in either Kitchen Nightmares in England or the US or Hell's Kitchen has been unable to produce a risotto that has passed Gordon's taste test. Maybe mine wouldn't either!!

Here's the recipe:

2 cans (14.5oz each) reduced sodium chicken broth
4 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, minced
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmesan.
1lb mushrooms, sliced and sauteed
1 cup frozen peas

In a small saucepan, combine broth with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and keep at a bare simmer.

In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook stirring occasionally until tender, about 5 minutes. Add rice; cook, stirring frequently, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine; cook, stirring until absorbed, about 1 - 2 minutes.

Add 2 cups of broth. Simmer over medium-low stirring occasionally,until absorbed. Continue adding broth, 1 cup at a time, stirring until most of the liquid has been absorbed,** about 25 minutes total. The rice should be tender (but not mushy) and suspended in liquid with the consistency of heavy cream. (I didn't need all the broth - I added the first 2 cups and then 1 cup more and that was fine)

**Meanwhile, saute the mushrooms in some butter and then add them to the risotto after you have added the last cup of broth. Add the frozen peas at this time also. After stirring for about 1 minute, the risotto should be almost ready.

Remove pan from heat. Stir in Parmesan and butter, serve.

I thought it turned out well. Not mushy and not undercooked. I did not move away from the saucepan at any time during the process though. So don't wander off and start watching the Gilmore Girls or anything like that!!

Mesquite Ribs

2008-04-13T13:25:00.006-04:00

The weather turned out to be fantastic last night so my husband threw some ribs on the grill and we decided to use two different rubs that we have. A regular Mesquite Rub (John Henry's brand), which is mild and the one I like, and a Sweet Mesquite Rub which is Kirkland brand from Costco. The Sweet Mesquite was too spicy for me as it has pepper, chili pepper and red pepper, along with onion garlic and red bell pepper as well as the regular mix of sugars.

The rub goes on first and then cook slowly on a low temperature for about an hour and a half.

And this is my five year old clowning around with a S'more in her mouth!

Crab Cake Appetisers

2008-04-12T12:44:00.004-04:00

I made some crab cake appetisers today for tonight's dinner. I really love this recipe from Everyday Food, and I've made it once before as a main dish. The recipe makes 8 good sized crab cakes, and I made 20 mini crab cakes with mixture left over, from half the recipe. I used a 1lb tub of Phillips lump crab meat that I got at Costco.

The full sized ingredients list is

1 pound small-sized fresh crab meat, such as special or claw

1 pound larger sized fresh crab meat, such as jumbo or backfin

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (plus wedges for serving)

1 large egg

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 cup fine saltine crumbs (about 30 crackers)

4 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, stir together mayonnaise, parsley, lemon juice, eggs, mustard, Old Bay, 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Add crumbs and small-sized crab meat to mayonnaise mixture; stir well to combine. Gently fold in larger sized crab meat just until combined. Dividing evenly, form mixture into 8 cakes.

(you can make these up to 1 day ahead and store them on parchment paper in the fridge).

Place cakes on a baking sheet lined with foil. Drizzle with the melted butter. Broil until golden brown and warmed throughout. 12 - 15 mins.

No Health Food .....Please?

2008-04-10T19:12:00.003-04:00

We had Chicken Fajita Tostadas tonight for dinner. They really turned out well and were delicious.

After dinner I found this message from my 7yr old at his place at the table!

Retro Recipe Box - Orange Velvet Cake

2008-04-10T16:34:00.008-04:00

I whipped up another one from the retro Recipe Box this afternoon. It's a Orange Velvet Cake. My mother assures me it's delicious and has been bugging me to make it (truth: asked me nicely once in an email)

It turned out really nicely. I thought the batter was a bit thick and strange when I made it, but it cooked up well.

This picture with the green icing is a bit off putting, but that's the 70's for you.

Here's the recipe:

6oz butter (stick and a half)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon orange juice (I just squeezed the juice of one orange and used that)
2 1/4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder.

Cream butter with sugar and orange rind. Add eggs, one at a time, then orange juice; beat well. fold in sifted flour and baking powder alternately with the milk. Fill into buttered loaf pan, bake at 350F for 45 mins.

Allow to stand in pan 10 mins than turn out on to a cooling rack.

I put all the batter into one loaf pan,and it came nearly to the top and the cake rose up quite high, but you could get two cakes out of it, but they would not be as high.

Icing.

I made a chocolate icing for this cake, but the original recipe called for a butter icing made with 2oz of butter and then add confections sugar and beating until the right consistency for spreading. This is slightly vague for me, so I did the chocolate one this way:

1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 cup less 1 tablespoon of confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons water

And then you could also do an orange flavoured glaze or lemon flavoured glaze:

1 cup confections sugar sifted
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice or lemon juice.

We had the cake after dinner and it was a bit crumbly for my liking, but the flavour was excellent. Next time I'd probably put in a little bit more milk and a little more orange juice to moisten it up a bit.

Hells Kitchen - Fillet of Halibut

2008-04-09T10:36:00.003-04:00

Last night on Hells Kitchen it was more of the same. Blank stares and yelling. Gordon was livid that there had been so much waste in the service the night before, so he had the trash truck back up and dump the bags in the driveway and all the contestants had to go through and sort out the garbage. Totally stupid. They made so much mess in the driveway it was more repulsive than the waste. So point made, they all went back to the kitchen and the Gordon proceded to fillet a hallibut with a VERY SHARP knife. He made it look so easy, but it couldn't have been that hard because the dumbo contestants manaaged to make 41 acceptable fillets each from their halibuts. Then I guess they attempted to serve it for dinner after each team has mauled it. Yuk.

Meanwhile the men won the "challenge" of cutting up fish and got to go on a yacht with Gordon who was nice to them for 2 hours before going back to yelling at them during the dinner service.

Dinner was basically more of the same except a few more people got their dinner. It all ended in tears with Gordon screaming "shut it down". This after screaming "where's the beef" 40 times in a row. Maybe if Gordon gave them a few cooking lessons in the morning, they might be able to produce a dinner in the evening?

Sharon was utimately sent home because she spent more time worrying about her make up than her cooking. She is a "room service chef" which translated means she works in a hotel kitchen. I think.

So Gordon in scary mode has even managed to scare me, because I am determined to make a good rissoto. I've found a nice recipe in Everyday Food,so I'm going to try it out this week. You know, just in case Gordon drops by and screams at me to produce the perfect risotto!!

Garlic and Parmesan Turkey Burgers

2008-04-05T19:05:00.003-04:00

Tonight for dinner, after the frenzy of the Banana Cake and the Whopper cookies I thought that burgers would be a good idea, seeing as I didn't actually have to go outside and cook them on the grill, I could get my husband to do that!

I adapted the burger recipe from an Everyday Food recipe for meatballs.

1 lb of ground lean turkey
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 egg
2 cloves of garlic or 2 teaspoons of ready minced garlic
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all together and then form into six good sized burgers. They take about 20 mins on the grill.

I threw them on some ciabatta rolls with shredded lettuce and some tomato. Delicious.

Brown Bananas

2008-04-05T17:27:00.003-04:00

And along with the Whopper Cookies, I threw together a Banana Cake this afternoon. I was on a roll! I'm totally convinced my family lets the bananas get over ripe so I will be forced into making a banana cake. I'm wising up to their tricks.

Whopperlicious!!

2008-04-05T15:51:00.006-04:00

I just made the Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops from Dorie Greenspans Baking: From My Home To Yours. Totally fantastic. Sort of cakey, and very chocolatey and malty, but not overly so. I think the use of bittersweet choc chunks really makes it. They were super easy to put together. I love a drop cookie. I'm too lazy to roll and cut, except if I'm making the Lemon Flowers .

So here is the recipie - well worth a try!!

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 cup malted milk power – Or Ovaltine
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup whole milk
2 cups (6oz) Whoppers (or Malteasers) coarsely chopped
6 oz bittersweet chocolate or 1 cup store bought chocolate chips or chunks.

** Admission: I did not read/remember about the coarsely chopped Whoppers, so I threw mine in whole, and the cookies still turned out fine, if a bit chunky. However, I would recommend chopping the Whoppers.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. Preheat the oven on 350F

Sift together the flour, malted milk powder, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 3 mins until very smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 min after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled, it will even out when the dry ingredients are added.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Mix in the milk, then the remaining dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. The batter will look more like fudge frosting than cookie dough - and that’s fine. With the mixer on low, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the malted milk balls and chopped chocolate (or chips).

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between spoonfuls. Bake for 11 –13 mins (I did the full 13). When done the cookies will be puffed and set but slightly soft to the touch. Let the cookies rest for 2 mins before putting them on the cookie rack to cool to room temperature.

Hells Kitchen?

2008-04-03T19:22:00.004-04:00

I think I'm going to apply to Hell's Kitchen for next season, as apparently the only qualification you need is to be able to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for your kids. The first guy kicked out by Ramsey was a stay at home Dad, who had apparently never cooked a scallop before. How hard can it be? I'm sure not as easy as cooking them for the family, because Gordon does have high expectations, and it is a "restaurant", but really, to throw out 30 scallops? I'm sure I would have caught on after I'd had to throw out the first two batches. Anyway, Gordon was in fine form, popping his pooffle valve every thirty seconds over some heinous insult to the world of food, mainly sucky rissotto.

I don't feel sorry for the contestants at all. They know what they are getting into when they sign up for Hell's Kitchen. And they also must know that Gordon Ramsey is totally overacting. I have a small crush on Gordon, especially after watching his Kitchen Nightmares on BBCAmerica. He's really quite caring and not the incessant screamer that he plays on Hells Kitchen. You also have to bear in mind that this show is on FOX, masters of tricky editing, producers interference and cheesy "reality TV". The only reason I tuned in this week was because there is nothing else on at the moment, and I like Gordon.

As far as the food goes on this show it's is secondary to showcasing massive incompetence, so it's not really about food at all, unlike Top Chef, which I consider one of the best reality shows on TV.

I haven't caught up with this weeks episode of Top Chef, but I did watch last weeks, when they had to cook for the block party. Miraculously no one has broken out the truffle oil yet. Maybe Chef Colichhio banned it this season? I thought that whole challenge was a bit underwhelming and I didn't like the Quick Fire - which was to make a fine dining taco. Usually all the food they come up with all sounds great, and I always feel bad for the people that get kicked off. They do put their hearts into it.

When they post the next "At Home Challenge" I'm going to give it a try.

Am I Blind?

2008-04-03T19:14:00.004-04:00

I rushed home from the library today with Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home To Yours because I really wanted to make the Chocolate Malted Whopper Drop cookies. NO OVEN TEMPERATURE!!!! Am I blind? I re-read the page a zillion times, checked all the other recipes, they all had temps!!

I'm going to go with 350F, but if anyone knows better, please let me know!!

Rotisserie Chicken! It worked!

2008-03-29T19:03:00.006-04:00

We rotisseried our own chicken for dinner tonight on the grill. I'm totally thrilled with the way it turned out. I had a 4.76lb "hormone free" chicken and we stuffed it with lemon and thyme and then also put the rest of the thyme under the skin, and sprinkled it with kosher salt. I can't believe how well it turned out. Really moist and tasty. The kids even ate it up!

We had it on the rotisserie for about 1 hour and 50 mins and then rested it under a foil tent for about 10 mins before carving.

I made some roasted potatoes, carrots and onions to go with it, and I have tons left over for sandwiches and maybe another meal!

UPDATE FROM MY HUSBAND ON THE MECHANICS OF ROTISSERIE:

OK, I helped make this and I want credit! There were a few challenges and resulting ideas associated with cooking a chicken on the rotisserie:

If you can, find a chicken with a pop-up button to let you know when it is done. We used the "juices run clear" method of assessing its doneness, but a pop-up button would have made this truly foolproof.

Remove the grill sections to allow the chicken to turn freely. Use a flat drip pan under the chicken to help speed clean up. Make sure that the skewers are positioned such that the chicken is in front of the rotisserie burner; sounds like common sense, but it is easy to mess this up. In fact, the burner unit is wide enough to cook two five-pound chickens at once.

Make sure the skewers are tightened to the rotisserie spit. You may need to use pliers to tighten the screws to make this happen. If this is not done, the spit turns but the chicken does not, resulting in overcooking on one side and undercooking on the other.

Make sure the spit stays seated in the motorized housing. Because of the way our grill is built, the motor is mounted slightly higher than the side where the spit rests on the grill. This means that every 20 minutes or so, the spit became unseated from the motor assembly and stopped turning. Lucky we caught this! I reseated the spit in the motorized housing to get it moving again while I fabricated a solution. I took a regular washer and bent it in half, forming a semi-circle with an indentation for the spit to rest on while it turned. I then wedged the washer into the spot the spit would have rested on, raising the contact point by about 3/4" (2 cm). This spit-rest raised the angle of the non-motorized end and used the weight of the chicken we were cooking to keep the spit from becoming unseated.

Lemon Custard Cakes

2008-03-28T10:13:00.005-04:00

I love anything with lemon, and I've been eyeing this recipe in the Everyday Food since I got the book, and this morning I was in the mood to whip a few up!!

They are so easy to make, and yum (I just ate one for morning tea!)

Unsalted butter at room temperature for custard cups
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoon all purpose flour
2-3 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup milk (I used skim)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350F. Set a kettle of water to boil. Butter six 6-ounce custard cups, and place m in a roasting pan or baking dish lined with a kitchen towel (I sprayed the cups with Pam and I didn't use the towel and everything was fine - I took the risk of the cups sliding in the baking dish)

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and granulated sugar until the mixture is light; wish in the flour. Gradually whisk in the lemon zest and juice and whisk in the milk.

With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Add to the lemon mixture; gently fold in with a whisk (the batter will be thin)

Divide the batter among the prepared cups. Place the pan in the oven and fill with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the cups. Bake until the puddings are puffed and lightly browned. 20-25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners sugar.

Note: If you don't have individual custard cups, bake the batter in an 8-inch square baking dish(or other shallow 2-quart baking dish) for 30-35 minutes.

It puts a rose in every cheek...

2008-03-27T09:31:00.008-04:00

I got it into my head to make some vegemite on toast this morning, the ultimate Australian food!! I used to give it to the kids all the time when they were really little, because it is an aquired taste, eg: from birth. My 5 yr old will eat it, but my 7 yr old won't go near it anymore and he used to love it.

The trick to the perfect vegemite on toast is not to slather it on like peanut butter, but to make sure the toast is very hot, the butter melted and then an nice even thin scraping of the vegemite. Delicious!

Also medicinal. If you have a bit of an upset stomach, nothing cures it like some toast with vegemite.

And just to prove that people actually eat this stuff, here we are eating it!!

And here is the new Vegemite commercial from Australia. I don't really know how new it is because I found it on YouTube, but it's new to me, and it combines the old commercial that I know from when I was a kid!!

UPDATE:

Here are the ingredients of Vegemite:

Yeast Extract, Salt, Mineral salt, Malt extract (from barley), Natural colour, vegetable extract, Niacin, thiamine, Riboflavin, folate

Vegemite Web Site

Vietnamese Steak Sandwiches

2008-03-23T09:41:00.004-04:00

We had these for dinner last night. Delicious!! I marinated a flank steak and then we cooked it on the grill. I put it on some fresh Demi Baguettes which I got from Costco and some cilantro, carrot, garlic and scallions that were mixed together with an Asian dressing.

Flank Steak Marinade:

1/3 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

My flank steak was about 1.5lbs.

Combine everything in a ziploc bag and marinate. The recipe from Martha's Everyday Food, Great Food Fast says 30 mins. I did it overnight and it was just right.

We grilled the steak for about 15 mins and it was "medium". Let the steak rest for 10 mins before slicing thinly.

For the Sandwich:

1 large garlic clove, minced (I have a huge jar of minced garlic that I always use)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 carrots, grated
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup packed fresh clilantro leaves

Bread rolls.

Mix together the garlic, sugar, red pepper flakes, rice vinegar and 1 tablespoon of water. In another bowl toss together the carrots, scallions, and cilantro, then combine with the vinegar mixture and toss well until everything is coated.

Once the meat is sliced - assemble on the rolls and you'll have a delicious weekend dinner!!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-22T12:41:00.000-04:00

Coconut Slice

2008-03-22T11:49:00.003-04:00

As promised I made the Coconut Slice from the recipe box. I pretty much stuck to what was on the recipe card, and it turned out, but next time I would make a couple of drastic changes. I'm going give you the recipe as is (along with my little tweak) and then I'm going to give you the recipe for how you could do it next time. If anyone can improve on this - I'd love to hear about it!!

Original recipe:

1 cup coconut
1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 oz butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup self rising flour
1/8 teaspoon salt.
6 oz dark chocolate (I actually used Bakers Semi-sweet)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Soak coconut with icing sugar and milk. Meanwhile, cream butter and brown sugar, add egg, beat well. Fold in sifted flour and salt. Spread mixture into greased pan (I used 8 x 10). Spread coconut filling over the top. Bake at 350 F for 25 mins. Let Cool completely.

When cooled, melt chocolate and vegetable oil together. Mix well. Let cool slightly and then spread the chocolate over the coconut and then refrigerate until the chocolate has completely hardened, then you can cut it into squares.

New recipe:

2 cups of coconut
2 tablespoons of confectioners sugar
1/4 cup of milk.
1 oz of butter
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup of self - rising flour
pinch of salt.
6oz dark chocolate (I actually used Bakers Semi-sweet)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil.

Same method as above.

So this is actually going to give a much thinner layer of the cakey base, more coconut and the same amount of chocolate, and I think will make it much more delicious than it already is!!

My husband thinks that I should have made it with a graham cracker crust. All Americans are obsessed with graham cracker crust and I don't think it's the answer for everything. The cakey base is what makes this slice quite unique.

My Deviled Egg Boat is Sinking

2008-03-18T11:45:00.000-04:00

As promised I'm going to share some of the fab recipes I found in the recipe box. Mmmmmmm, don't these all look enticing?

My personal favourite is the Deviled Egg Boats. Why on earth would you need to put the egg on a slice of toast? All these recipes are pre 1972 because they are in imperial measurements and in Australia we switched over to metric that year. I think that these recipes also look incredibly unappetising because of the photography and their reproduction on cheap magazine paper.

The recipe for the Deviled Egg Boats is 6 hard boiled eggs, 6 slices of bread, 80z of processed cheese shredded, 1/2 cup milk, 3 tablespoons mayo, 1/2 teaspoon mustard, 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Once you've filled the eggs and toasted the bread "boats" , you have to make some kind of sauce with the milk and the processed cheese. Yum.

And I won't even go into the ingredients for the Layered Salmon Casserole, but if anyone is interested, please email me and I'll be happy to pass it along.

I did find one recipe for Coconut Slice which has a lot of promise. I'm going to make it with a few tweaks and then I'll post it.

Nana's Sponge Cake

2008-03-16T16:04:00.008-04:00

I used my Nana's recipe to make this sponge. She was great at making sponge cake. She never learned to drive a car, but she could whip one of these up no problem.

I came across the recipe for the sponge when I was going through my mothers old recipe cards that she used to use all the time. The delights of entertaining in the 60's and 70's is a whole other post, which I will delight you with next!

So there it is! The simplest recipe in the world!

4 eggs

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of self rising flour

Grease and flour two 8" round pans. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the eggs on High until light and fluffy.(I also added 1 teaspoon of vanilla at this stage) I used the paddle attachment on my mixer and put it on speed 8 until air bubbles formed around the edges of egg mixture. Add the sugar gradually. Then fold in the flour. I put the mixer on speed 2 for this and it only took a few seconds to fold in the flour. Bake at 350F for 25 mins.

I used Trader Joe's Raspberry Preserves between the cake layers and whipped up some cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. I sprinkled the top of the cake with confectioners sugar.

Pasta for Dinner

2008-03-15T16:17:00.004-04:00

I made the Angel Hair Pasta, Bacon and Peas from the March 2008 Everyday Food. We had it for dinner last night and it was only OK. The sauce was very thin as it was only Half and Half, no cheese mixed in, no egg. The kids even ate the peas and bacon, but picked out the onion, which was a very labour intensive task, so it took them forever to eat their dinner.

This week, Martha Stewart launched her new book "Cookies", and it has 175 cookie recipes. I have a feeling that it is going to contain 100 recipes that I already have from the Dec 2005 Holiday Cookie Magazine. I have only seen Martha show it off on her show the other day, but the whole layout looks excatly the same. I'd love to have the book, but I think I'm going to give it a miss unless I find out that it's 175 completely different and unique cookies from anything else she's published before.

I haven't watched Top Chef yet, but I've heard it's great. Hopefully I'll get to it tomorrow night.

I'm going to make a sponge cake tomorrow, my Nana's recipe, so I'll be posting that as soon as I can.

TV for Foodies

2008-03-12T10:09:00.007-04:00

Tonight Top Chef returns on Bravo at 10:00pm. I love this show! We had never watched before season 3 last summer and we totally got into it. The cooking challenges are great and the personality of the Chefs are wild, and some of the dishes are crazy, but can be relied upon to contain truffle oil for some reason. If you've never seen it before check it out!!

Sadly, Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" ended its season on Monday night with Tony doing a double shift in his old restaurant Les Halles in NYC. It was great. It showed exactly how a restaurant worked and how hard all the line cooks and chefs work. Try and catch it in re-runs on the Travel Channel. The episode title is "Into the Fire". It was by far the best espisode of the season.

My Photo Studio

2008-03-06T10:20:00.006-05:00

A couple of people have left comments recently that my photos are nice - thank you!! So I thought I'd share what my photo studio looks like. It's exteremly high tech.

A window that gets the morning sun and a chair. The light is so important for the photographs, so I can only take food photos until about 1:00pm, so I have to be very organised if I know I'm going to take a photo of it. I use the tripod as well and I have a Sony DSC-H2 6mpxl. It's inbetween a point and shoot and a DSLR as far as features go and it has a 12x zoom, which is one of the best things about it. It's the DSLR you have when you're not having a DSLR ( and only Aussies my age will get that joke!)(explanation)

Hopefully when the weather warms up I'll be able to take some photos outside in the shade, which is the best possible light to capture the true colours and textures.

Family Portrait

2008-03-06T10:13:00.003-05:00

My five year old got a new set of coloured pencils and a new box of crayons yesterday, and this morning I recieved a beautiful family portrait. Back in my day it was a big deal to get new coloured pencils and there was always a girl at school who had the big metal box with every colour under the sun. Now you can pick up a pack of pencils at Target for $1.75, and it's no big deal at all, which is rather nice. Kids don't get coloured pencil envy anymore, now they have Ipod envy!

These Cookies Never Fail. Ever

2008-03-01T15:16:00.007-05:00

Honestly, these are the best chocolate chip cookies ever. I have made them a zillion times in the last 5 years and they have never let me down once. This go round I used regular semi-sweet choc drops and the Ghirardelli Bittersweet Choc Chips and the flavour is great. The Bakers Choc Chunks also work really well. You can basically use any choc chips or chunks that you like. (The blue thing in the photo is my silicone baking sheets made by Wilton - they work really well and are a quarter of the price of the Silpat ones)

The recipe is from Ina Gartens Barefoot Parties.

1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 extra-large eggs at room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/4 lbs choc chunks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the butter with the mixer on low speed, mixing only until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

Drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using a 1 ¾ inch diameter ice cream scoop (I got mine at Target for $4.95) or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands and flatten the dough slightly. Bake for EXACTLY 15 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.