German Onion Tart

01. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Bread, sides, snacks · Tags: , , , , ,

Alright, I’m a bad blogger. I can’t tell you how many people have contacted me wanting to know what is going on, why I’m not blogging more often, and even a few who were concerned about my well being. Well…okay, not a lot of people, but more than I expected. I’m not going to offer up any excuses other than it has been me not being very motivated. I promise I’ll try to do better.

Not long ago I had a craving for something pizza-like, big surprise I know, me being the king of pizza delivery. What was surprising is that I didn’t exactly want pizza. Yes, I even shocked myself. I wanted something crispy, and chewy, savory and loaded with carbs. Something with a lot of flavor, just like pizza. Then I remembered a German dish that I had had before, Zwiebelkuchen, kind of a cross between a quiche and a pizza. Yes, I know, it sounds strange, but stay with me for a minute. Zwiebelkuchen come in many different forms from thick and eggy to thin and crispy with just a thin layer of custard to hold everything together…just like the cheese on a pizza. Made with lots of sauteed onions, and usually some kind of pork, this dish packs a wallop in the flavor category, and although a little time consuming (you make a yeast dough that needs to rise) it’s pretty simple. Serve it like you would a quiche, with a side salad for a light lunch, cut it into smaller pieces and serve as an appetizer or cut it into large wedges like I do and eat it as you would pizza.

This recipe makes a more pizza-like Zwiebelkuchen as opposed to the thicker, deeper quiche style.

Zwiebelkuchen (German Onion Tart)

1 package active, dried, yeast
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups All purpose flour
1 Tbl. butter
1 cup water, warm
6 slices Bacon, chopped (preferably thick cut)
2 mdium onions, sliced
1/4 tsp. Caraway seed
1/2 tsp salt
Black pepper, freshly ground
1 each Egg
1 each Egg yolk
1cup sour cream
2 Tbl. milk (optional)

Combine the yeast with sugar, salt and 1/2 cup flour in a bowll. Blend in the butter and warm water and mix to combine. Add enough of the remaining flour flour to make a soft dough (you will need most of it) then turn this onto a lightly-floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turn to coat then cover and set aside to rise in a warm place for about 30-45 minutes.

After this time, pat the dough into a lightly-greased, 12 inch pizza pan or a jelly roll pan. Cover and set aside as you prepare the filling.

Place bacon in large, preheated skillet and cook until crisp then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Using the remaining bacon fat, saute the onions until tender but not browned. Add the caraway then remove from the pan and sprinkle over the dough. Top with the crispy bacon. Bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the egg, the egg yolk and the sour cream together. This will give a custard that you can spoon on top, leaving areas devoid of custard, which is how I like it. If you want something a bit more uniform add the milk to the egg mixture and pour over the onions, spreading it out to cover completely. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Bake 10-12 minutes longer, or until the top is golden brown and the sour cream mixture has set. Serve warm or room temperature, sliced into wedges.

Crabcake Benedicts

11. February 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: breakfast, Fish · Tags: , , , , , ,

I’ve been a very bad blogger recently. I mean really bad!!! I can’t believe it’s been almost 1 1/2 months since I’ve posted. I apologize to those of you out there that regularly follow my blog. No I haven’t died or dropped off of the face of the Earth. Over the last few weeks I’ve been doing quite a bit of travelling for work. As such, I haven’t been able to spend the kind of time I would like with my family so I’ve tried to limit my computer time recently to spend more time with them. And to be honest my last bit of travelling has left me both physically and emotionally drained and I just couldn’t bring myself to do anything on the computer other than some mindless surfing. While I still have a bit of travelling left to do, things should start to mellow out a bit for me and, hopefully, I’ll be able to start posting more regularly again.

Just because I haven’t been posting recently doesn’t mean that I haven’t done any cooking, although on the road it’s pretty much been restaurant food every day, mostly fast food, sad to say. It certainly doesn’t help me in trying to reach my next weight goal that the doctor has imposed upon me. Looks like I’ve got some catching up to do there also. Unfortunately, recipes like the one I am posting today sure don’t help. We’re talking crabcakes (bound with mayo and Ritz crackers), poached eggs, and a decadent Hollandaise sauce loaded with bacon. It doesn’t get any more heart-stopping…and tasty…than that. This recipe certainly isn’t everyday fare, that is unless you have some sort of death wish, but occasionally it’s okay to go all out and live a little.

Crabcake Benedicts with Bacon Hollandaise
serves 4

12oz crabmeat, picked over to remove any stray shell pieces
1/4 cup mayonnaise
30 Ritz crackers, crushed
1/2 Onion, small, finely diced
1/2 stalk Celery, finely diced
1/4 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning (optional)
Salt
Pepper

3 slices Bacon, thick cut, diced
8 Tbl. Butter, clarified
2 each Egg yolks
2 Tbl. White wine
pinch cayenne pepper
lemon juice, fresly squeezed

8 each Eggs
Vegetable oil

In a medium bowl, combine the crabmeat with the mayonnaise, crackers, onion, celery and seasonings. Mix well and allow to chill for 1/2 hour.

To make start making the Hollandaise sauce render the bacon until brown and crispy. Remove from heat and drain off the bacon fat, combining it with the clarified butter. In a medium sized pot bring about 1″ of water to a simmer. Place the yolks in medium sized mixing bowl along with the wine. Place the bowl over the simmering water and cook the eggs, whisking constantly, until the eggs are thick enough to hold a line drawn through them. This is known as the ribbon stage. Remove from the heat and very slowly, a bit at a time, drizzle in the butter-bacon grease mixture, whisking constantly so that the fat is emulsified into the egg yolks. Add the cayenne and squeeze of lemon juice and taste for salt, adding a bit, if necessary. Place in a warm, but not too hot spot as you finish the dish.

Divided the crab mixture into 8 equal patties. Heat some vegetable oil in a large skillet, over medium high heat and cook the crabcakes, in 2-3 batches depending on the size of your skillet, about 3 minutes per side. Meanwhile poach your eggs, again in batches if necessary.

As everything finishes up stir the crispy bacon into the Hollandaise sauce. Place two crabcakes on each of 4 plates. Top each with a poached egg and spoon some of the Bacon Hollandaise over top. Enjoy and then make an appointment with your cardiologist!

Duck and Butternut Squash Hash

02. January 2012 · 4 comments · Categories: breakfast, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Ours was fantastic!!! Fun yet mellow. Not quite as relaxing as I had hoped it would be but it never is when you have a 5 year old. She was so wound up for the morning that she expected us to entertain her all day, a theme that has been playing out more often recently. I’m not sure what it is; it isn’t that she doesn’t have an expansive imagination. I’ve watched her carry on 4 way conversations where she plays the part of each one of her dolls. I guess it’s just easier to have Mom and Dad do the entertaining than to do it herself. But when we do the entertaining we short change ourselves as listening to her carry on full conversations, where she plays all parts, is quite amusing, often insightful, many times downright hysterical and sometimes just a bit scary. But, I digress… Overall it was a great Christmas, and although it would have been nice to share parts of it with family, it was very nice doing our own thing.

New Year’s was rather pathetic at our house this year. The wife and kid were in bed by 10pm and I was on the computer, putzing around when I noticed that it was already 12:15am. Yes, I missed New Year’s, but I can’t complain because the day before my wife and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary with a nice romantic dinner, of steak and grilled crab legs, to the sounds of “Phineas and Ferb” playing in the background. Oh well, there’s always next year.

For our Christmas dinner, we decided to do Roast Duck and while normally eating half a duck is no problem for me, with all the other dishes we had we ended up with a decent amount of duck leftover. A few days later I found myself in the mood for breakfast at dinner and knowing that we had duck that we had some duck to use up I decided to marry it with some of the winter squashes we seem to have multiplying on our baker’s rack.

Duck and Butternut Squash Hash
serves 3-4

1 1/2 to 2 cups Duck meat, cooked
2 cups Waxy potatoes, small diced (Yukon Gold or Red skinned work great)
2 cups Butternut squash, peeled and small diced
1 small Onion, peeled and small diced
1 clove Garlic, peeled and minced
2 Tbl. Vegetable oil
3 strips Bacon, preferably thick cut, cut into thin strips
3/4 cup half and half
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Bring 2 small pots of salted water to a boil. To one pot add the diced potatoes and to the other pot add the diced squash. Par cook the potatoes and squash until almost done. They should still have a bit of crunch to them. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Heat a heavy skillet over medium high heat and add the oil. Once hot add the bacon and cook until crispy. Remove the bacon leaving the fat in the pan. Add the potatoes and cook just until starting to brown. Add the squash and the onions and cook until all the vegetables are tender, about 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and duck and cook for 2 minutes. Add the half and half and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Mash the hash down, slightly crushing the potatoes and squash and form into a large patty just smaller than the size of the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook, undistrubed for 5-6 minutes. Flip the hash over (don’t worry you won’t be able to do this as one large patty just try to get most of it flipped over) and reform into a patty again mashing it down slightly. Allow it to cook until the bottom starts to crisp up, another 10-12 minutes. Watch to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Divide among plates flipping the hash over so that the browned, crispy part is on top. Serve plain or like I do, topped with poached eggs and accompanied by buttered toast for scooping up the hash.

Cranberry and Dried Cherry Chutney

22. December 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: fruit, sides, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

Just a quick post tonight and a great little recipe for your Christmas Dinner. First, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!! I hope your holidays are full of family, friends, fun and lots of great food! I’m looking forward to our quite Christmas with me, my wife and daughter so we don’t have to deal with travelling. If you do have to travel I wish safe journeys and a quick stress free trip. It looks to be a relatively quite weekend weatherwise, at least here in the USA, so hopefully no one will have any difficult driving or flight delays.

I my last post I promised a Cranberry Chutney to go along with the pork recipe I posted. The cranberries in this chutney are tempered by dried cherries, helping to mellow out their tart, cranberry kick. The recipe is given a very subtle exotic accent by the addition of coriander and green cardamon. If you can’t find green cardamon pods then you can use ground cardamon or even skip it all together although I like the faint Indian flare it gives this chutney. Besides pork, this relish would pair perfectly with duck, goose, turkey, and lamb.

Cranberry and Dried Cherry Chutney
serves 8-10

6 pods green cardamon
1 tsp. whole coriander
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 Tbl. vegetable oil
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
12 oz. fresh cranberries
1 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup crystallilzed ginger

Lightly crush the cardamon pods and remove the seeds, discarding the outer pod. Coarsely grind the cardamon and coriander together then add the ground cinnamon. Reserve. In a medium sized pot heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic, and spice mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes to toast the spices. Add the cranberries, sugar and orange juice. Bring to a boil and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the cranberries start to break down. Add the dried cherries and cook 5 minutes longer. Add the crystallized ginger, cook 1 minute then remove from heat. Allow to cool and store in the fridge. While it is ready to eat as soon as it is cool, the flavors will more fully develop and meld if allowed to sit overnight, in the fridge.

Mustard Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

20. December 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: herbs, Main Courses · Tags: , , , , ,

Tis the season for food bloggers to post crazy. It seems that even those bloggers that normally only post a few times a month churn out tons of posts between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And who can blame them. The season is made for cooking…and eating. There are posts on making cookies, making candies, creating holiday themed cocktails or cooking up snacks and appetizers for holiday parties. And while there are also lots of wonderful posts on creating memorial Christmas meals for the whole family there seems to be a lack of posts concerning those who aren’t spending the holidays with extended family but still would like to cook a nice meal.

That is exactly what we are doing this year. It will just be me, my wife and my daughter. While we have family only a short distance away (1 1/2 hours) we decided it would be nice just to spend a holiday with just “us”, something we’ve only done once before with our daughter. I will miss the hustle and bustle of an extended family Christmas, but it will give us a chance to make some of our own traditions and, as Christmas approaches, I find myself relishing the idea of quite, low key Christmas with just the 3 of us.

But that means no huge, roasted Turkey, Crown Roast of Pork, or Rib of Beef. Instead we are thinking smaller. Pork Tenderloin fits that bill perfectly. They normally weigh in about 1 1/2 – 2 pounds, just the right amount for a meal for 2-4 people. And better yet, they don’t take very long to cook-less than 1 hour, start to finish, including prep time. Accompanied by a dried fruit relish or chutney (look for a recipe with a twist on Cranberry relish later this week), creamy brasied cabbage and roasted root vegetables, you have the makings of a simple, yet elegant Christmas dinner that doesn’t have you spending hours in the kitchen (not a bad thing when you are cooking for a crowd, but it can be tedious when cooking for just a few people). Make the meal special by serving a nice bottle of American Pinot Noir or ratchet up the festive level and serve one of my favorite Champagnes, Billecart Salmon Rose. It will run you about $80-90, but it’s well worth it, and besides, it’s Christmas.

While I’m crusting pork in this recipe, the same procedure works just as well with lamb or chicken breasts. In fact, I think the first time I made this it was to crust Rack of Lamb at one of the first high end restaurants I ever worked at. Yes, this recipe is pretty traditional. It surely won’t win any awards for creativity or trendiness, but there is a reason the classics are classics. It’s because they work. Enjoy!!

Mustard Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin
serves 2-4

1 1/2 – 2 pounds pork tenderloin
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 1/2 Tbl. rosemary, fresh, finely chopped
1 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
3-4 Tbl. Dijon mustard
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbl. vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place a skillet over high heat. Meanwhile generously season the pork tenderloin with salt and pepper. Add the oil to the pan and when hot add the pork tenderloin. While the pork is cooking combine the bread crumbs, rosemary, garlic, and a bit of salt and pepper. Cook the tenderloin until it is seared on all sides.

Once seared on all sides remove pork from pan and pat dry to remove excess oil. Liberally coat the entire tenderloin with Dijon mustard, brushing it on with a pastry brush.

Then roll in the bread crumb mixture to crust all sides of the pork.

Place on a pan and roast, in the oven to an internal temperature of 140°F. Once the pork reaches 140°F remove from the oven, loosely tent with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 8-10 minutes. This will leave you with pork that is still a little pink inside. Personally I like it this way and am loathe to return to the days when pork was cooked until grey, dry and lifeless, but if you are squeamish about pink pork then cook it to 150-155°F, but remember this is pork tenderloin and not very fatty. Cook it too far and you will have a dry tough piece of meat on your hands.

After resting, cut the pork into slices about 1/4″ thick and serve.

Gingerbread Pancakes

18. December 2011 · 4 comments · Categories: breakfast · Tags: , , , , , ,

Are you burnt out on gingerbread flavored foods this holiday season? Hopefully not as I have a wonderful “gingerbread” bread recipe to share today. I first made these gingerbread pancakes a few years ago and fell in love with them. For pancakes, they are a little on the dense side but it seems appropriate considering the punch of flavor that these offer. I know you are probably already saying to yourself that you’ve had enough “gingerbread” to last you until next Christmas (and we’re still a week away from the big day!) but I would suggest that you give these a try. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

While these are fantastic served with butter and maple syrup, like in the pictures above and below, an even better bet is to serve them with a lemon sauce (lemon is a traditional accompaniment to gingerbread). To make a simple, yet tasty lemon sauce, in a saucepan combine 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1/4 tsp. of salt. To that add 1 cup of cool water and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and clear. Remove from heat and add 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel and 2 tablespoons of butter. Stir until well mixed and the butter has fully melted.

Gingerbread Pancakes
makes 12 medium sized pancakes (enough for 2-4 people depending on their appetite)

1 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon Ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg, freshly ground
1/4 teaspoon Ground clove
3 large Eggs
1/4 cup Dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1/2 cup Water
1/4 cup Coffee
6 tablespoons Unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 170°F. Whisk together dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together eggs and brown sugar until smooth. Add buttermilk, water, molasses and coffee, then add the flour mixture. Finally stir in melted butter. Cook on a preheated griddle and keep warm in oven until all are finished.

Pinwheel Cookie Pops

13. December 2011 · 1 comment · Categories: Baking, Desserts & Sweets · Tags: , , , ,

One of my favorite Christmas cookies, from my childhood, were the Candy Cane Cookies my Mom used to make. They are still one of my favorite cookies and my Mom still makes sure that I get some every Christmas whether I make it home or not. My wife has learned to make the also. Not that I’m not capable of making them, but they are a labor of love and can be a pain to make. Just another reason that my wife rocks!

So what is so difficult about making these Candy Cane Cookies? Well, first you need to make 2 batches of the dough. One you leave plain, while the other you tint red. You then allow the doughs to chill briefly. Once that’s done you then start rolling out 6-8″ long ropes of dough about 1/4″ in diameter. Taking 1 red rope and one white rope you twist the 2 together and form into a candy cane. These then get baked. And if this sounds like a pain, well it’s even more of pain than it sounds, but they make great looking cookies.

While I loved these cookies as a kid (and still do) I always thought it was strange that they looked like candy canes but they didn’t really taste like candy canes (except for the crushed candy canes that were sprinkled onto the hot cookies, as they came out of the oven. It wasn’t until I was older that I learned that the flavoring for these cookies was actually almond extract. Since I’ve been out on my own, I’ve tried replacing the almond extract with peppermint extract to make these cookies more “candy cane” like, but found that I didn’t care for them as much. I’m not sure if that is due to my bias for the cookies of my youth or if the almond extract really does work better. But I have to admit there is something wonderful in the play of flavors between the almond flavored cookie and the crushed candy canes on top.

Getting ready for the recent bake sale I was involved in, I knew that I wanted to do these cookies, but seeing as it was a bake sale and these cookies were going to be transported numerous times I wanted a cookie what wasn’t as fragile as the candy canes that we usually made. Keeping with the candy theme though I decided to roll the 2 colored doughs into a pinwheel, slice them and bake them with lollipop sticks to create cookie lollipops. And I have to admit I almost like them better than the traditional candy canes. I said almost, but not quite. Again though that is just a bias for the cookies of my youth. Either way you decide to make them they will turn out great. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do

Pinwheel Cookie Lollipops
makes approximately 30-34 cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup candy canes, crushed
1/4 cup granulated sugar

In a mixer beat together the butter and the sugar. Add the egg and extracts and mix to combine. Add the flour and salt and mix until a sticky dough forms. Wrap dough in plastic and allow to chill for 45-60 minutes. Meanwhile make another batch of the dough, tinting this one red. Chill this dough also. Once chilled place the white dough on a piece of wax paper and roll out to a rectangle about 15″ inches long and 11″ wide. Adding only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking. Do the same to the red dough but only rolling it out to 15″x10″. Center the red dough on top of the white dough and gently roll up pinwheel style along the longer edge, rolling as tightly as you can. Transfer roll to a large piece of plastic wrap and wrap the dough tightly, twisting in the ends a bit to tighten the dough and give you a uniform width throughout. Chill the dough overnight.

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Trim one end off of the cookie roll and start cutting slices about 1/4″ thick. Remove the plastic wrap from the individual slices (it’s easier to slice it with the plastic on it).

Use a thin bladed slicing knife and wipe it clean every couple of cuts for ease of cutting. Place slices on parchment on cookie sheets and add lollipop sticks (if using). Bake for 9 minutes. Meanwhile combine the crushed candy canes and granulated sugar. After 9 nine minutes remove cookies from oven and lightly sprinkle with the candy cane/sugar mixture. Return to the oven for 1 minute longer (no longer). Remove from oven and allow to cool, on the pans for about 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to continue cooling.

Christmas Treats-Pistachio Bonbons

09. December 2011 · 3 comments · Categories: Desserts & Sweets · Tags: , , , , , , ,

Tis the season to be baking. Fa La La La La… This past week both my wife and I got off our butts and did some holiday baking and candy making. I really didn’t have much of a choice as I had committed to providing some items for a Holiday Bake Sale benefiting “Cookies for Kid’s Cancer.” Not that I’m complaining. It got me off of my butt and hopefully helped to jump start our holiday baking.

BTW, if you find yourself in the Milwaukee area on Saturday, Dec. 10th (that’s tomorrow as I write this) anytime between 12pm and 4pm, stop by The Best Place at The Historic Pabst Brewery, at 901 W. Juneau Ave. There will be numerous treats from area bloggers, bakers and businesses. Coffee and tea will also be provided along with a Cookie Decorating table, for the kids. Stop by, treat yourself to some yummy snacks and help benefit a very worthy cause. mkefoodies hosted one of these benefits back in May and did quite well. We’re hoping that this one will do even better!!!

One of the items I am providing are these tasty little Pistachio Bonbons. I love these things, but you really have to like pistachios to enjoy these candies. The filling is an intense pistachio “marzipan” that seems to concentrate the pure essence of pistachio making these things little flavor bombs.

This recipe is a little more “advanced” and time consuming than many of my recipes, but then again serious candy making is often a multi step process and can often require attention to detail. The filling itself (the pistachio marzipan) is very simple, but to do the chocolate right can be a little tricky as we will be tempering it. If this is too much for then by all means you can do it the easy way. Once the filling is made just roll it into small balls and dip them into melted chocolate. Shake off any excess as you remove the enrobed marzipan and allow to cool on a tray covered in wax paper. The downside to doing it this way is that you will never get a truly hard, shiny coating like you would using tempered chocolate and it is best to store these in the fridge to keep them from getting soft. Tempering is not difficult, but you do need to pay attention to the details for it to come out right. It is not absolutely necessary though if you are just planning on dipping your candies. But, if you want to mold them then you must temper your chocolate or you will have difficulties in removing the candies from the molds. Give it a try, the worse that can happen is that your candies will develop white streaks as it dries. It doesn’t affect the taste at all and if you’re too embarrassed to give them away then you have a tasty treat, for yourself, for the next few days!!!

I guess I should mention what tempering is, in case there are some people out there unfamiliar with the term. You know when you buy a Hershey’s bar, how it is nice and shiny and has that satisfying snap when you break it, well that is tempered chocolate. Untempered chocolate usually has a dull look to it and always seems somewhat soft when you bite into it. Untempered chocolate can also develop a white “bloom” to it. While the chocolate is still fine to eat it may not look nearly as appetizing. Just so you know, once you melt “bloomed” chocolate that whiteness goes away. This is because chocolate contains a number of different fats that melt and solidify at different temperatures. Tempering gets those fats in line, so to speak, getting them all to to their thing at the same time. That’s a simplified explanation but pretty much sums it up.

Pistachio Bonbons
makes about 50-60 candies

2 cups Pistachios, shelled
1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
Water
Green Food Coloring (optional)
1 pound Dark Chocolate, cut into small pieces is not using chips or disks

In a medium sized pot bring to a boil 5 cups of water. Add the pistachios and boil for 8 minutes. Drain and lay out on a towel to dry. This step does 2 things it helps to remove some of the salt on the pistachios since in most parts of this country it is hard to find pistachios that are not salted and roasted, and it serves to loosen the skins. Once the pistachios are mostly dry gather up the edges of the towel and give the pistachios a good hard rub. This will loosen the skins even further. Remove the skins from the nuts. Don’t worry, they don’t need to be perfect. You just want to remove the majority of the skins. Place nuts in a food processor and process until finely ground, scraping down the sides of the processor occasionally. Add the powdered sugar and continue to process for a total time of approximately 8-10 minutes. The mixture should look dry at first glance but if you squeeze a bit together it should compact into a nice dense ball. If not add just a bit of water. It shouldn’t take more than a few drops to 1 tsp. max. At this point the mixture will probably be more brown than green. If you like the natural color then the “marzipan” is done, but people often assume that pistachio accented foods should be green so go ahead and add some green food coloring until you get the color you like. I added about 10-12 drops to the recipe myself. Roll into balls about the size of a garbanzo bean (about 2/3′s the size of a marble) and set aside.

Now to melt and temper our chocolate. Place a medium sized pan, filled with no more than 1-2″ of water, over medium heat and bring to a simmer (not a full boil). Wipe out the inside of a metal bowl ensuring that there is no moisture in it whatsoever. Place 2/3′s of the chocolate in the bowl and place the bowl over the simmering water. Stir continually to make sure the chocolate, along the sides doesn’t burn and try not to allow the chocolate to get hotter than 115°F. Once fully melted you need to cool the chocolate down to the low 80′s (between 81°-84°). Do this by adding the remaining chocolate to the melted stuff. As you stir the remaining chocolate will should melt completely. Once you reach this lower temperature you need to bring the chocolate back up to a temperature where it is easy to work with again. Bring it up to 90°F but do not let it get past 91°-92°F or it will go out of temper and you will need to bring back down to the lower 80′s again and back up. Once you have achieved temper, take a clean brush (I use paint brushes that I use only for pastry and/or candy work) and paint a thick layer of chocolate on the inside of your candy molds. Place in the fridge and all to cool for 10 minutes. While this is happening you will want to keep your tempered chocolate warm, at the right temperature. You can do this by placing the bowl on a heating pad set to the lowest temperature and stirring the chocolate often. Just watch that temperature. Keep it between 90°-91°F. Once chilled remove the molds from the fridge. Add the pistachio marzipan, gently pressing it into the molds. There should be a gap of about 1/8″ between the top of the filling and the top of the mold. Cover with a layer of chocolate, making sure it fills all the empty spaces in the mold and scrape it flush with the top of the mold ensuring a level bottom. Return to the fridge for another 10-12 minutes to set. If you have tempered the chocolate correctly at this time you should see some air space between the molds and the chocolate as properly tempered chocolate should shrink slightly, pulling away from the molds. A couple of light taps on the molds, as they are upside down should release the candies. They are ready to serve immediately or to box up as gifts. If molded properly and there are no air holes then the candy should easily last a few weeks, stored at room temperature.

Hot Spiced Cider

06. December 2011 · 1 comment · Categories: beverage, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Christmas season is in full swing, and at our house one of the things that means is the drinking of copious amounts of hot, spiced cider. For as long as I can remember the holidays, both Christmas and Thanksgiving…and many of the days inbetween, were accompanied by the the sweet, heady smells of a pot of spiced cider warming away on the stove top. To this day, it just doesn’t seem like the Christmas season without having brewed up a gallon or two of one of my favorite drinks.

While we’re on the subject of cider, I want to rant just a little (and I think I’ve voiced this rant before so I’ll make it short). It drives me nuts, walking through the grocery store and seeing bottles of clear, amber liquid that companies are passing off as cider. Sorry, but it looks and tastes like ordinary apple juice and has about as much in common with real cider as does Grape juice. Cider should be brown and cloudy with a body and mouth feel that apple juice can only wish it could attain to. I even have a problem with “pastuerized” cider, but I understand that some people are concerned about food borne illnesses. But please, if you have never tasted fresh, unpastuerized cider before, check it out. You’re in for a treat. The real stuff, when made properly has a complexity that is totally lost in the pastuerization process.

It’s the holidays so enough ranting and more holiday cheer! You’ll notice, in the picture, that there is a distinctive red hue to that mug of cider. Don’t adjust your computer monitors, it’s supposed to be that way. I often like to add “Red Hots” candies (you know, those little, red, firery, cinnamon candies). They add a nice festive hue to the cider and help bump up the cinnamon in the drink. If you don’t want to use the candies, and sometimes I don’t, just up the number of cinnamon sticks you add to the cider to compensate for the lack of cinnamon flavoring.

Once made, you can ladel it into mugs and serve as is, for the children and teetotallers in your group or you can do as most of the members of my family do and spice with a shot of bourbon or dark rum. A few of those and I guarentee that you’ll get a party started!

This recipe uses a gallon of cider as I find that it can go pretty quickly, but you can easily adjust to make the amount you need. Also I just toss in all the spices. If you’d rather not fish around trying not to ladel up allspice berries and cloves you can tie them up in a coffee filter and just remove the whole thing after about 30-60 minutes.

Hot Spiced Cider
makes just over 1 gallon

1 gallon Cider
4 each Cinnamon sticks
1 Tbl. Whole Cloves
2 Tbl. Whole Allspice Berries
1 (12oz.) can Orange Juice Concentrate
3-4 oz. Red Hots candies (the little red cinnamon candies)

Place all ingredients in a nonreactive pot and simmer, without boiling for, at least, 30 minutes. Ladel into mugs and serve. Feel free to add a shot of bourbon or rum for a more adult beverage, or experiment with any of the various flavored alcohols out there. If you come across a really great combination let me know. If so desired, garnish the mugs with an orange wheel and a cinnamon stick for stirring.

Caramelized Cauliflower

17. November 2011 · 1 comment · Categories: sides, vegetables · Tags: , , , ,

Tonight we picked up our last box, of the season, from our CSA. Well, technically the last regular season box was delivered a few weeks ago, but we had also opted for the late season storage share. I can’t wait to eat my way through all the killer produce that was delivered. But, before I go on, I really should thank Nicole and Joe, and family, of Good Earth Farm. Through their hard work and tremendous efforts my family was supplied with a bounty of produce all summer and fall long. It was truly a pleasure to get to meet some of the people that supply us with our food. It’s heartwarming to see and meet people with such a passion about the food they raise and their impact on the environment. I look forward to next season and seeing what Good Earth Farm has in store.

Back to the cauliflower; in this box we received both the standard white variety and a beautiful orange variety. Knowing that I was hungry for caramelized cauliflower I decided to skip the orange variety for now as I wasn’t sure how it would look once caramelized. But hey, that leaves me with some cauliflower for another day, not a bad thing in my book.

The spicing I use in this recipe is quite subtle, almost to the point of not realizing its there, but I selected these spices to help play up the earthy quality of the cauliflower while the cinnamon helps to elevate the inherent sweetness of the vegetable. Feel free to leave them out if you choose, but I think they really help to make this dish.

If you aren’t a fan of cauliflower this dish won’t change your mind, but if you’re kind of on the fence out this vegetable, try it this way, it might just make a fan out of you yet.

Caramelized Cauliflower
serves 4

1 large head cauliflower
3 Tbl. butter, melted, divided
12 each Ritz crackers
1 pinch nutmeg, freshly ground
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. ground coriander
salt
pepper

Preheat the oven to 475°F. Crush the Ritz crackers and add 1 Tbl. of the melted butter. Stir until well mixed. Cut the cauliflower in half, cut out the core and split into 1-2 bite florets. Mix the cinnamon, cumin and coriander with the remaining butter and drizzle over cauliflower to evenly coat all pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Place in an oven proof skillet and put into the oven. Bake for 12 minutes, stir and cook for 8 minutes longer. Stir again and sprinkle the crushed crackers over top. Return to the oven and cook another 4-5 minutes or until the topping is golden brown. Serve immediately.
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