Author: Anna

Cupcakes and vodka

Birthday sunflowers
Setting the scene with happy sunflowers

And tri tip, and saffron-infused rice, and cheesy bread, and Louisiana hot links, and grilled zucchini, and taquitos, and fresh watermelon, and… You get the picture. It was a night of overindulgence. I hear that’s allowed for your birthday. However, my birthday is on the 22nd, and we celebrated early due to Jan’s work schedule. Now, I’ve got a week of using the birthday excuse and I hope I make it!

In addition to the treats I listed before, Kristi made Santa Maria beans and may be persuaded to share the recipe on her blog or as a guest contributor. I made the Czech potato salad using Jan’s recipe, which I will be posting in the near future, along with the recipe for the warm spinach artichoke dip we also enjoyed.

Birthday barbeque plate
Attempting to make room on the plate

Since Jan and I collaborated on the coleslaw, we called it Swedish-Czech coleslaw, but I realize that’s probably a lot more confusing of a name than it needs to be and we’ll have to work on coming up with a new one. We made it for the first time using the food processor, which worked well for the carrots, but I think it cut the cabbage into too small pieces. We combined green cabbage, carrots, and a fuji apple, then mixed with mayo, milk, white vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper.

We also had ooey, goey, warm out-of-the-oven brownies made by Amy. I was impressed with Ken’s homemade German chocolate cupcakes, and his firefighting-in-the-backwoods-while-eating-gourmet-Spam recipes were intriguing (another guest contributor perhaps?) I was very happy to hang out on the patio with family and friends, listening to my own CD of happy music (thank you Jessica!) with so many thoughtful wishes from everyone. I felt very happy indeed.

Rocky road ice cream pie
The rocky road ice cream pie got a little messy

I made ice cream pies for dessert, and was a little embarrassed to reveal the recipe, as it was incredibly simple. It should be made ahead of time because there are few steps that involve allowing time for things to set in the freezer.

Rocky Road Ice Cream Pie

Chocolate graham crackers

½ stick butter, melted

Ice cream (you will use about ½ of a 1.5 quart container for one pie)

Whipping cream

Directions

The crust is made from chocolate graham crackers. Other cookies work well too, and I’m currently developing new crust/ice cream combinations using 1.) Animal crackers and 2.) Ginger snaps as the cookie crust base.

Crush cookies by hand or in a food processor. This time I used a food processor to grind the cookies for the first time, but I felt like I was missing out on half the fun. My usual technique is putting the cookies in a bag and beating with a meat grinder. I guess you could choose your method depending on whether you’re in a hurry or you need to let out some steam! Combine with melted butter until the mixture can be pressed into the bottom of a cake pan. I used about ½ stick of butter to one package of the chocolate grahams (about 13 whole crackers, or 26 squares.)

Adding whipped cream
Adding whipped cream

 Bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven and let cool completely. Set out your ice cream on the countertop to soften, about 30 minutes. Fill crust with the ice cream. I made one pie with rocky road and the other with strawberry, but you could use your favorite flavor of ice cream, or get creative and mix things in with chocolate or vanilla. I mixed vanilla with strawberry once, which was tasty, but the strawberries stayed more frozen than everything else, prompting my friend Chanel to call the creation “popsicle pie,” which could be considered a good or a bad thing, depending on how you feel about popsicles.

Cover the ice cream with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours. Add a little bit of powdered sugar to whipping cream to taste, whip the cream, then remove plastic wrap and top the cake. Cover again and freeze for at least 2 hours.

When you’re about ready to enjoy, remove from the freezer and set out on the counter for about 20 minutes or so before serving.

A glorious truce with eggplant

I knew it wasn’t fair. I just didn’t like eggplant. I couldn’t even remember a specific time when I ate it and didn’t like it, we clearly just didn’t understand each other.

Then one day, Jan said he was going to make eggplant parmesan. “I don’t like eggplant,” I warned him, shaking my head. I sat at the countertop/bar overlooking our kitchen, pulled out a crossword puzzle, and sipped some red wine. A little bit later, Jan presented me with a disc, breaded and deep-fried, for me to try. I was skeptical, but instantly amazed. It was good. (This is not to say that the deep-frying technique will resolve conflicts with any vegetable I’m prejudiced against, as it did not work for mushrooms, Jan tried.)

Jan said that the trick with eggplant was slicing it horizontally, placing each medallion out on a tray, and sprinkling the eggplant with salt on both sides. Then the tray should be placed in the refrigerator for half and hour, letting the salt leach out the bitterness of the eggplant. Before cooking, the eggplant must be thoroughly rinsed of the salt water.

I was already amazed by the eggplant by itself, and the finished eggplant parmesan was even better. It was like lasagna, just with fried eggplant instead of the noodles and ricotta.

Now I request eggplant parmesan. The dish has opened up so many doors for me, this last time I decided it would open a new one. It was time for me to get over my fear of deep-frying. The last time I attempted to do so, I almost burned off my eyebrows a week before my wedding, setting a small but instantaneously out stove top fire in our apartment. Three and a half years later, my friend Heidi (who I was attempting to cook french fries for) still won’t let me live it down. This is also the reason a fire extinguisher now resides on our countertop, though it probably should have been there all along knowing firefighters’ propensities for starting fires.

So, when Jan began frying the eggplant slices for eggplant parmesan and asked me if I’d like to do the rest, I decided, why not? The fried eggplant is an amazing appetizer on its own, and one eggplant provides plenty of slices for constructing the layers of eggplant parmesan and for snacking on while you’re cooking the dish. And not an eyebrow or eyelash was harmed.

Here’s our simplified recipe:

Slice one eggplant and set out slices on a tray. Sprinkle both sides with salt and let sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and place in a colander to drain.

Set up a breading station with three shallow dishes. Fill one with flour, another with egg and milk, and the last with seasoned bread crumbs. Pat eggplant slice dry with a paper towel, coat with flour, then dip in the egg wash, and last, cover with breadcrumbs.

Fill a saucepan with about 3/4″ of oil and heat. Then fry about 4-5 of the breaded eggplant slices at a time, flipping over to brown both sides. Remove from oil and let drain over paper towels.

In a baking or casserole dish, layer red sauce (this time Jan made his own with Italian stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste, and I messily completed the final step with the immersion blender), eggplant, sauce, cheese (we used an Italian blend of shredded cheeses), eggplant, sauce, cheese, etc., just like you were making lasagna.

Bake, covered, in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes (remove the lid for the last 10 minutes or so).  Remove from the oven and let rest for about 20 minutes before serving. Then enjoy! I am still enjoying the leftovers.

Will work for carrot cake

I’ve had a few requests for the carrot cake I made for St. Patrick’s Day (I didn’t know what an appropriate Irish dessert would be, and carrot cake seemed festive enough at the time). Jan’s coworker Ken loved it so much I decided to make it for a yard clean-up party/barbeque he was hosting, hoping that would get me out of doing any yard work. Besides, I was arriving with Jan, chainsaw and chaps in tow, so I think that together, we were covered.

This recipe is adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, and it turns out so moist and carrot-ey. I’ve toned down the sweetness of the cake, and the frosting tastes like pure cheesecake.

Favorite Carrot Cake

4 eggs (let sit at room temperature for half-an-hour)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1.5 cups granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups finely shredded carrots, lightly packed (make sure carrot is finely grated or it will sink to the bottom during baking)

3/4 cup cooking oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease and flour a 13x9x2 pan. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, combine beaten eggs, carrots, and oil, then add to the bowl of dry ingredients. Pour into a pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool, keep in the pan. While the cake is cooling, prepare the frosting.

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

1.5 cups powdered sugar

Combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Gradually add the powdered sugar. When the cake is cool, frost (don’t do this too soon while the cake is still warm or the frosting will melt). Top with chopped pecans. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Cool summer cocktail

The suddenly summer weather has had me wanting a refreshing happy hour, and I’ve been loving the fresh strawberries in season. I created a cocktail using the infuser that came in a Level Vodka gift set and so far, it works best with easily squishable fruits like strawberries. (Level marketing people will be thrilled, I think Jan actually bought the set just for the cool infuser it came with, but the vodka is also excellent – and made in Sweden – so it’s got a lot going for it.)

Place strawberries at the bottom of the infuser, pour in vodka to the fill-line, and press down. You can also use a blender or food processor and strain after blending. Pour into a glass with ice cubes and add club soda (also works with tonic or ginger ale if you’re not a club soda fan). Garnish with a strawberry and enjoy!

Behold, the seven hour book club

I hosted this month’s book club at my house, and we had two new women joining us, so I was excited and determined to make sure everyone had a good time. Our book selection was Orangette author Molly Wizenberg’s “A Homemade Life,” and the plan was to make recipes from the book and/or blog.

We had an appetizer of an assortment of cheeses, breads, crackers, and fruits. For dinner, Laura made the Chana Masala, Nicea made the roasted tomatoes, and I made Burg’s potato salad. It was a challenge for me to step outside my tried and true potato salad recipe and make one with ranch dressing, dill, and caraway seeds, but I think it came out well, and there wasn’t any leftover–a  good sign.

The unanimous hit was the bread salad with cherries, arugula, and goat cheese. Beth used fresh cherries from the farmer’s market to add sweetness to the salad, and the toasted bread mopped up the juices from the cherries, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil with perfection.

Oh, and Beth showed me how to use the “food” setting on my camera, and we practiced getting more delicious food shots with about 15 different pictures of the dessert (winning entry here). Rachel made Hoosier pie: a pecan pie with bourbon and chocolate chips. It was rich and delicious, and I had to force myself to stop eating it.

It was 1 a.m. before we knew it. I wasn’t sure if everyone stayed later than usual because of all the wine we drank and their need to sober up, or perhaps that they were having such a good time they didn’t want the evening to end. Hopefully it was a little bit of both.

I take a cooking class and get drunk on olive oil

I haven’t taken a cooking class since Home Ec, so when a group of my girl friends decided to host a get-together at the Whole Foods demonstration kitchen, I was excited.

The evening’s theme was Spanish tapas, and our chef Hillori explained that tapas were small bites eaten in bars and were traditionally made on large platters and served with toothpicks. Establishments used the honor system; at the end of the night, you’d bring up your pile of toothpicks to be counted so that you could pay for what you ate.

Luckily, we had no such system tonight to keep track of the amount we ate, otherwise my toothpick pile might have looked more like a mountain by the end of the evening!

We started by making prosciutto, manchego and fig tartines. We combined butter with fig preserves and spread over small pieces of baguette. Then, we topped those with prosciutto (can also use Serrano ham) and pieces of manchego cheese (a hard cheese that Hillori cleverly sliced with a vegetable peeler). Once plated, the tartines were drizzled with olive oil and topped with salt and pepper.

We then made a few things to accompany some of the later dishes: almond and parsley salsa verde, and lemon and garlic aioli. We made piquillo peppers stuffed with goat cheese and served them with the salsa verde, then garlic shrimp with sherry and fresh parsley. Lastly, we sampled spicy chorizo served with the aioli for dipping.

I felt like I was on the set of a cooking show from the Food Network, except this time, I could ask the chef a question and get an answer right away, it was great. I kept leaning forward in my seat to get a better look at the food preparation, forgetting about the ceiling mirror that offered a better view.

Everything was rich and delicious, and I love that the class forced me to step outside my comfort zone and try things I normally wouldn’t. I used ingredients that I would never think to buy, or use. And I found several uses for the parsley that’s growing rampant in the garden right now.

On all the dishes, olive oil was used in abundance, something that bothered me at first, but I told myself to go with it. When in Spain… right? Besides, the liquor license for the demonstration room was still in the works, so we couldn’t yet sip on Spanish wine while we did our cooking. By the end of the night, I was so stuffed with the flavors of Spain, I felt like I had drank a bottle of wine myself.

The girls and I made a date with Hillori for another class focusing on making quick and easy desserts, and my sweet tooth can’t wait.

An Abundance of Condiments

I don’t know if other people are like this, but I love to look in other people’s refrigerators. Maybe it came from a job I had for a few years selling closet organizers in which I walked straight into someone’s house and into their closet, skipping all formalities and getting right to the heart of things. After all, you can learn a lot about a person from their closet, and I’m sure, also their refrigerator.

But you can’t just go to someone’s house and open their refrigerator on your own, right? The polite thing to do is wait for the “help yourself,” or, “it’s in the fridge” comment, after which, it’s ok to take a peek as you’re getting out what you went in there for. But don’t linger too long, or you’ll be revealed as a snooper. (On a side note: I found a site called FridgeWatcher that has pictures of the outside and inside of people’s refrigerators across the world. Fascinating!)

Of course, there are certain friends and family members where you’ve already skipped past that stage. Where it’s ok to be hanging out in the kitchen and, with a pause in the conversation, randomly open the fridge to check out what’s there. Continue reading →

Not your average egg McMuffin

Thin bun egg McMuffinThe “thin buns” bought last week have been put to a few good uses. Last week, when I was craving a cheeseburger, Jan and I went to the store for some ingredients. Often we buy two rolls from the supermarket bakery since we hardly have a need for a six-pack, but they were out, so I went to look through the bread aisle. I’d seen the thin buns before and wanted to try them, especially since each bun is 100 calories, compared to the 250+ calories of the regular hamburger buns. Less bun equals more bacon in my mind. There were a few varieties, we tried EarthGrains’ 100 % Whole Wheat, which were a hit with American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and of course, bacon.

This morning we cooked bacon and eggs, placed them on the bun, topped it with sharp cheddar cheese and put it in the toaster oven. Excellent! I will be finding more uses for the thin buns.

Filet mignon and trials in blue cheese dressing

Blue cheese dressing and filet mignonBlue cheese is a bit too smelly for me, but I love blue cheese dressing. I don’t buy blue cheese dressing. It’s one of those things like Rocky Road ice cream that just doesn’t live in our freezer/refrigerator out of fear that it would get eaten in one afternoon. I only have it when going to a restaurant, ordering a salad, and getting it brought to me on the side.

So when Jan brought home a wedge of blue cheese from Fresh & Easy, explaining that it was marked way down due to its impending expiration date, I had an idea. I combined the blue cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and garlic chives from the garden. It passed the taste-taste with a carrot stick, so I put it in the refrigerator to marinate a few hours before dinner.

When it was time to serve, it was still too thick to serve as a dressing, so I added milk to it, even though the recipes I borrowed from online didn’t call for any. Reviews were mixed: Jan said it was still too “blob-ey,” maybe something I could improve with some more milk, or by putting the dressing in the food processor. There is still some of the cheese wedge left, so I may try again. But on another note, the filet mignon (also nearing expiration date and marked way down at the store) was delicious.

Lazy night nacho supper

Lazy night nacho supperWith everything under the sun blooming in the fields nearby, allergies have left us both feeling sniffly. Last night was the perfect time for a TV dinner. Jan tried out some organic ground beef that was on sale at Vons and cooked it with garlic, onion, cumin and chili powder. The beef was added atop a bed of tortilla chips, along with refried pinto beans (from the can), grated sharp cheddar and Colby Jack cheese, and sliced black olives. After a quick spin in the microwave, the nachos were topped with a spoonful of low-fat sour cream and Bobby Salazar’s salsa. It was so good I’m still feeling guilty about eating them lying on the sofa with my feet up.