salad with herbed baked goat cheese

07/10/2008 By

I’m trying to cut down on the number of Cooks Illustrated recipes that I put in my blog. For one thing, I don’t want Chris Kimball to come over here and kick my ass. Plus, I feel like most Cooks Illustrated recipes are a no-brainer – they’re so dependable that it’s no surprise to hear another recommendation. On the other hand, I cooked almost exclusively from Cooks Illustrated for several years, so there are some recipes that I love so much that I can’t resist sharing.

In fact, I have entire dinner party menus of CI recipes to discuss. I’m going to spend the next few entries putting forth the recipes for one of my favorite meals. I’ve made this for a group of friends and for my parents, and it received great reviews both times. My parents had arrived at my house pretty pissed off after having their car broken into and getting stuck for hours trying to cross into the US from Canada, and after this meal (plus two bottles of wine and some beer), they were in much better spirits.

This salad is a great first course. It’s nice and light, but the goat cheese makes it interesting. The cheese rounds can be prepared up to a week in advance, which is always an advantage when you’re having company. I would also make the vinaigrette early in the day I plan to serve it and keep it in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. That way, when it’s time to serve the salad, I can just shake up the dressing and mix it with the greens. I almost always use bagged greens, because I hate to wash lettuce. With pre-cleaned lettuce, cheese rounds that can be formed days before you plan to serve them, and a simple vinaigrette that can be made in advance, this salad makes for the perfect opening course to an elegant dinner.

Salad with Herbed Baked Goat Cheese and Vinaigrette (from Cooks Illustrated)

Bridget note: I’ve used different herbs based on what I had available, and it was fine. I also usually forget to brush the rounds with olive oil before baking them, so if you’re stressed for time (like I always am when I have company), don’t worry too much about that step.

Serves 6

Herbed Baked Goat Cheese
3 ounces Melba toasts, white (about 2 cups)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
12 ounces goat cheese, firm
extra-virgin olive oil

Vinaigrette and Salad
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced shallot
¼ teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh chives
Ground black pepper
14 cups hearty greens (mixed), washed and dried

1. For Goat Cheese: In food processor, process Melba toasts to fine even crumbs, about 1½ minutes; transfer crumbs to medium bowl and stir in pepper. Whisk eggs and mustard in medium bowl until combined. Combine thyme and chives in small bowl.

2. Using kitchen twine or dental floss, divide cheese into 12 evenly sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball; roll each ball in herbs to coat lightly. Transfer 6 pieces to egg mixture, turn each piece to coat; transfer to Melba crumbs and turn each piece to coat, pressing crumbs into cheese. Flatten each ball into disk about 1½ inches wide and 1 inch thick and set on baking sheet. Repeat process with remaining 6 pieces cheese. Freeze cheese until firm, about 30 minutes. (Cheese may be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen up to 1 week.) Adjust oven rack to uppermost position; heat to 475 degrees.

3. Remove cheese from freezer and brush tops and sides evenly with olive oil. Bake until crumbs are golden brown and cheese is slightly soft, 7 to 9 minutes (or 9 to 12 minutes if cheese is completely frozen). Using thin metal spatula, transfer cheese to paper towel-lined plate and cool 3 minutes.

4. For Salad: While goat cheese is baking, combine vinegar, mustard, shallot, and salt in small bowl. Whisking constantly, drizzle in olive oil; season to taste with pepper.

5. Place greens in large bowl, drizzle vinaigrette over, and toss to coat. Divide greens among individual plates; place 2 rounds goat cheese on each salad. Serve immediately.

Other recipes part of this recommended dinner party menu:
Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic
Sauteed Shredded Zucchini
Pain a l’Ancienne (baguettes)

Just about any dessert works well with this meal.
Many wines work well with this meal, but I especially like full-flavored whites such as Chardonnay, and medium-bodied reds such as Pinot Noir.

Filed Under: cheese, dinner party, favorites, french, healthy, salad, vegetables

blueberry pie (twd)

07/08/2008 By

Blueberry season snuck up on me. When I first saw that Amy’s TWD pick this week was blueberry pie, I hadn’t yet seen seasonal blueberries at the store. But when I went just a few days later, blueberries had replaced strawberries in the produce place of honor. Phew. (Then we went camping in the supposed “blueberry capital of the world”, so…yeah, finding blueberries didn’t end up being a problem.)

Like most somewhat experienced bakers, I already have a favorite pie crust recipe. It’s tasty, flaky, easy to work with, and doesn’t require shortening. However, if I stubbornly cling to my old favorites and refuse to try new recipes, I’ll stagnate as a baker and a cook. I was certainly willing to give Dorie’s pie crust recipe a try.

I also have a favorite blueberry pie recipe, but again, with the trying new things…

Dorie’s pie crust knocked my socks off. It was delicious, flaky, tender, and even easier to work with than my other recipe. However, the shortening is actually a deal breaker with me. I’d rather be careful that my pie crust is chilled enough when I’m rolling it out than eat hydrogenated fats. Also, I think Dorie’s recipe needs to be scaled back a bit. It makes about 20% more crust than other recipes I’ve used, and as a result, the pie had a higher crust to fruit ratio than I like, even though I think I like pie crust more than most people. (Depending on the quality of the crust, of course.)

The filling, well, it reminded me that I love blueberry pie. I ate four (small, I swear!) pieces in one day. I reduced the sugar from 1 cup to ¾ cup, and I’m glad I did, I think I used just the right amount of sugar. I also didn’t have the lemon zest that I was supposed to use, so I fudged that with a bit of lemon extract. I still like my other recipe better – it uses cinnamon as a supporting flavor instead of Dorie’s lemon, and the cinnamon is surprisingly perfect with the blueberries.

The recipe calls for bread crumbs to be scattered on the bottom crust before the filling ingredients are added. I’m not putting breadcrumbs in blueberry pie; it’s just not happening. I considered using graham cracker crumbs, but ultimately got lazy and skipped this step entirely. I bake pies on a preheated baking sheet, which I think helps brown the bottom crust and keep it crispy. I had no problems with my crust getting soggy.

The recipe can be found on Amy’s blog.

Filed Under: dessert, fruit, pie, summer, tuesdays with dorie

vanilla ice cream

07/05/2008 By

I love it when I get food as gifts. There’s so many great foods out there that I’m too frugal to splurge on for myself even though I really want to try them. I’ve never had artisanal balsamic vinegar or Valrhona chocolate, and I can never bring myself to get the expensive bottle of olive oil. My sister gave me this chocolate wine sauce for Christmas, and it’s a perfect example. I would have tried the free sample of this and thought “oh, it’s so good, I want to take some home!” and then I would have looked longingly at it and talked myself out of buying any.

So I was really excited to get it as a gift – so excited, in fact, that I waited 6 months to open it. That’s right, I’m one of those people who has to wait for the perfect opportunity for open that special bottle. I had told myself that I wanted to have the sauce on homemade vanilla ice cream, and I just never got around to making it earlier in the year. What’s really silly is that I made three pound cakes in March! But I was too stubborn to open the bottle for pound cake.

Ah, but it was worth the wait. Of course I knew that I liked red wine and that I liked chocolate, but I had forgotten how much I like red wine and chocolate together. The sauce has the perfect proportions of each component. It seems really sweet to me, but that’s probably because I like chocolate really dark.

The ice cream should in no way be passed over in favor of the sauce. This is the third vanilla ice cream recipe I’ve made (after Cook’s Illustrated’s and Alton Brown’s) and by far the smoothest. I do have in mind to try one more vanilla ice cream recipe, but it has a lot of live up to after this one.

Vanilla Ice Cream (from David Lebovitz)

About 1 quart

1 cup milk
a pinch of salt
¾ cups sugar
1 vanilla bean
5 egg yolks
2 cup heavy cream
a few drops of vanilla extract

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the milk with the tip of a paring knife. Add the bean pod to the milk.

2. Stir together the egg yolks in a bowl and gradually add some of the warmed milk, stirring constantly as you pour. Pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.

3. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Rinse the vanilla bean and put it back into the custard and cream to continue steeping. Chill thoroughly, then remove the vanilla bean and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Filed Under: custard, dessert

salmon clubs with avocado butter

07/03/2008 By

I subscribed to Real Simple for years, but only one issue had any recipes I was interested in. It was an article on sandwiches, and I’ve made and enjoyed almost every recipe from that particular article. Some have become seasonal staples for me, but this is only the second time I’ve made this recipe, because the first time was a flop.

It was about 5 years ago, and I didn’t have the cooking experience then that I have now. The recipe calls for kosher salt, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t know that kosher salt is coarser grained than regular table salt, and a direct substitute can’t be made. I remember the sandwiches being almost inedibly salty, which makes sense because the 1¼ teaspoons kosher salt that the original recipe calls for is equivalent to only about ¾ teaspoon of table salt. I used 1¼ teaspoons table salt.

With that straightened out, these sandwiches were delicious. I had no idea that I liked pumpernickel bread so much. I reduced the butter in the avocado butter to one tablespoon, which seemed to work fine. I skipped the oregano because I didn’t have it, and I don’t really think it would match the other flavors in this anyway. With those changes, this makes for an easy, tasty, and pretty healthy meal.

Salmon Club with Avocado Butter (adapted from Real Simple magazine, August 2004)

Update 3/20/09: The salmon really needs to be sliced into 1/4 or 1/2-inch pieces.  Also, I’ve decided that double-decker sandwiches, while visually impressive, are impractical (and messy!).  I’ll have to stick to single-deckers from now on.

Makes 2 sandwiches

1 ripe avocado, pitted and peeled
Juice from half a lemon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
salt
1 8-ounce salmon fillet, sliced into ¾-inch pieces
6 slices pumpernickel bread, toasted
1½ cups arugula leaves, loosely packed

Place the avocado, lemon juice, butter, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt (⅓ teaspoon table salt) in a food processor. Pulse until nearly smooth, about 30 seconds. Set aside. (Or just mash with a fork, if getting out your food processor is a pain in the butt, like it is for me.)

Place a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat with vegetable cooking spray. Sprinkle the salmon liberally with salt. Place in heated skillet. Cook until just cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Assemble 2 sandwiches, alternating pumpernickel, avocado butter, salmon, and arugula. Secure with toothpicks before serving.

Filed Under: one pot meal, sandwiches, seafood, vegetables

apple cheddar scones (twd)

07/01/2008 By

Apple and cheddar is a combination of flavors that I’ve heard about often but had never tried, so I was happy that Karina’s choice of Apple-Cheddar Scones for this week’s TWD recipe would give me that chance. Also, while I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a sweet or savory recipe, I served it with soup for dinner, which means I actually got to choose my own dessert to make last week! How exciting.

I made the full recipe, a rarity for me, and froze most of the shaped scones. The recipe came together with no hitches, although the dough was a bit stickier than I was expecting.

Although we ate these for dinner twice last week, situations beyond my control prevented me from enjoying one fresh from the oven. However, they were great even at room temperature. They were very light and tender.

That being said, I’ll tweak the recipe a bit for the next time I make it. Most importantly, I double the salt, because I kept hoping for just a bit more flavor from each bite, and this recipe calls for significantly less salt than most other biscuit recipes. I’d also cut the cheese into tiny squares instead of grating it, because I think the flavor almost gets lost when it’s evenly mixed in with the flour. I want little bursts of cheddar flavor. And I might increase the apples a bit, because I didn’t get as much apple flavor as I wanted either.

But they were still really good. I’m glad I have four more in the freezer. I’m also more interested in other apple-cheddar recipes now.

Karina has posted the recipe.

Filed Under: bread, cheese, fall, fruit, quick bread, tuesdays with dorie

danish braids (daring bakers)

06/29/2008 By

Wow, who knew making Danish dough would be so easy? I’d previously considered making some sort of laminated dough, Danish or croissants or the like, but the number of steps involved with those recipes made me think that it would be an intense project requiring the better part of a day.

Not so. While the dough needs some babysitting, each step of rolling the dough flat and folding it into thirds, repeated three times, takes only a minute or two.

And good thing, because I made two separate Danish doughs. After I quickly scanned the recipe near the beginning of the month, I started thinking about what I wanted to fill my Danishes with. I settled on a savory and a sweet version, and it wasn’t until a few days before the posting date, when I looked closer at the recipe, that I realized that the dough itself was sweet and might not be a good match for the red pepper, Italian sausage, and parmesan I’d planned to fill it with. So I made the dough twice, once as written (except leaving out the cardamom, orange zest, and vanilla bean due to laziness) to be filled with cherries and almonds, and another time, reducing the sugar, increasing the salt, replacing the orange juice with water, and eliminating the vanilla extract.

I was very happy with both the sweet and the savory breads. I thought the dough might be flakier than it was, but perhaps this was due to the heat in my kitchen when I was working with the dough. Maybe the butter melted into the dough instead of remaining as separate layers. Or maybe that’s just how this dough is. Regardless, it was very tender. I did think that it needed a bit more salt, and this is something I’ll take into account in the future.

Overall, this was a great learning experience. Now that I know what’s involved with making a laminated dough, I feel much more confident trying similar recipes, like croissants and puff pastry.

Danish Braids

This is the recipe as I made it. You can find the original recipe at this month’s hosts’ sites.

Sweet Danish Dough:
¾ teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons whole milk
1½ tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ large eggs, chilled
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
4 ounces all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt

Savory Danish Dough:
¾ teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon sugar
½ large eggs, chilled
1 tablespoon water
4 ounces all-purpose flour
1/3 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

For the dough: Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, vanilla extract, egg, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

For the butter block: Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Divide in two and set aside at room temperature.

2. After the dough has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 9 x 6.5 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the dough to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 6.5 x 9 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Cherry filling:
1 can cherries, drained, ¼ cup juice reserved
1.5-2 tablespoons sugar
½ tablespoon cornstarch
pinch salt
drop almond extract
¾ teaspoon brandy
toasted almonds

Stir sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in saucepan. Whisk in reserved cherry juice and wine. Cook, whisking frequently, over medium-high heat, until mixture simmers and thickens. Stir in almond extract and cherries. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Add to braid along with toasted almonds.

Sausage filling:
¼ pound sausage
½ red pepper, diced

Put sausage and ¼ cup water in medium-large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until water evaporates and sausage cooks through and browns, about 7 minutes, breaking up large pieces. Remove sausage with slotted spoon. Add enough oil so that amount in skillet equals about 1 tablespoon. Add peppers and sauté until softened slightly, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove and set aside. Add to braid along with grated pecorino and parmesan cheese.

DANISH BRAIDS:
2 sets of Danish Dough
½ cup of each filling

Beat 1 large egg for egg wash

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 10 x 15-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 4-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about ¾ inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.

3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash
Lightly coat the braid with the egg wash. Spray cooking oil onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid.

Repeat with remaining braid and filling.

Proofing and Baking
1. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.

2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Brush braids with egg wash again.

3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Filed Under: bread, daring bakers, dessert, fruit, pork, vegetables, yeast bread

yeasted waffles with vanilla butter, sliced bananas and candied macadamia nuts

06/27/2008 By

I try to resist having too many kitchen gadgets squeezed into my apartment’s small galley-style kitchen, but somehow I ended up with two waffles irons. One for flatter, traditional waffles and then one of those huge Belgian waffle makers that you see in hotel complementary breakfast line-ups.

Yikes. That’s a big waffle maker. But I figure the more I use it, the more justification I have for owning it. Danielle recently described a breakfast she had in a restaurant as a “dance in your seat meal” – sourdough waffles with candied walnuts and sliced bananas, served with vanilla butter. Hmm…yum.

I was pretty sure I could recreate it with just a few adjustments. I don’t have sourdough starter, but one of the recipes that came with my waffle iron uses yeast. It’s an easy recipe to put together, and in fact, most of it is done the night before, which I always like with breakfast recipes. The waffles ended up tasting fairly sourdoughy actually, plus they were wonderfully crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

I didn’t have walnuts, but I sugared macadamia nuts using the same method used for the peanuts in the Snickery Squares recipe. For the vanilla butter, I mixed softened butter with my homemade vanilla extract and just a little powdered sugar. I considered using a real vanilla bean, but I got lazy.

Overall, it was great! I wasn’t crazy about the banana, either because it was too ripe, or because I eat bananas so much that I’m just not interested in them in a weekend breakfast. But the nuts were great, and it was nice not having to slather everything in maple syrup. The real find of this meal was the waffle recipe, which is the best I’ve ever made, and will certainly be my standard recipe in the future.

Good Night Waffles (adapted from the Waring Pro Belgian Waffle Maker instruction booklet)

I reduced the butter in this recipe from 8 tablespoons to 6 tablespoons since I knew I’d be topping the waffles with vanilla butter. Because the waffles seemed so good with the lower amount of butter, I figured I might as well stick with it.

½ cup water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2¼ teaspoons (one packet) instant dry yeast
2 cups whole milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon baking soda

1. The night before, or at least 8 hours before baking, combine the warm water, granulated sugar, yeast, milk, melted butter, and salt. Beat in the flour until smooth (this may be done using a hand mixer on low speed). Wrap bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand overnight (or for 8 hours) on the countertop – do not refrigerate.

2. When ready to bake, preheat your waffle maker on your preferred setting. While the waffle maker is heating, stir the eggs, vanilla extract, and baking soda into the batter. Measure out enough batter for your waffle maker and pour into the preheated waffle maker. Use a heat-proof spatula to spread the batter evenly over the grids. Close lid and bake the Belgian waffle in the waffle maker until it indicates the waffle is done.

3. Remove waffle and repeat until the desired number of Belgian waffles has been made. Cover remaining batter and place in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Waffles may be kept warm in an oven at low-heat (200°F). Place Belgian waffles on a cookie sheet on a rack in the warm oven.

This made 6 waffles for me. I served it with 3 sliced bananas, 1 cup sugared macadamia nuts, and 3 tablespoons vanilla sugar. Vanilla sugar was made by mixing 3 tablespoon butter with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar.

Filed Under: bread, breakfast, fruit, yeast bread

kung pao shrimp

06/26/2008 By

I almost always ask Dave if he wants any input on our meals for the upcoming week, looking either for new ideas or for a way to limit all the ideas already swimming around in my head. Sometimes I ask just to be polite, even though I already have a nice plan forming, betting on the good chance that he won’t care. That’s what happened this time, and even though Dave wouldn’t mind one bit if I totally ignored his suggestion, I feel like a jerk for asking and then dismissing his opinion.

Not enough like a jerk to not tweak his response though. Dave simply answered “Sichuan” to my request for dinner ideas, and while I’m pretty sure he had something specific in mind, I chose to take his answer literally, opening my options up to anything Sichuan. A quick search on the Cooks Illustrated website turned up the perfect compromise – Kung Pao Shrimp, a classic Sichuan dish that also used up the red pepper I had and satisfied my craving for shrimp.

And satisfy it did. I wasn’t surprised, because it contains a lot of my favorite ingredients for Asian cooking – shrimp, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, peanuts, chiles…I’m sorry, I’m naming every single ingredient. But each is something that I love, and they worked wonderfully together in this dish.

Kung Pao Shrimp (from Cooks Illustrated)

Serves 4

You can substitute plain rice vinegar for the black rice vinegar (available in Asian markets), but we prefer the latter for its fruity, salty complexity. If you prefer roasted unsalted cashews over peanuts, substitute an equal amount. Do not eat the whole chiles in the finished dish.

1 pound extra-large shrimp (21 to 25 count), peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon dry sherry or rice wine
2 teaspoons soy sauce
3 medium cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press or minced (about 1 tablespoon)
½ inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced (about 2 teaspoons)
3 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil
½ cup roasted unsalted peanuts
6 small whole dried red chiles (each about 1¾ to 2 inches long), 3 chiles roughly crumbled, or 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
¾ cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons black rice vinegar or plain rice vinegar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into ½-inch dice
3 medium scallions, sliced thin

1. Toss shrimp with sherry and soy sauce in medium bowl; marinate until shrimp have absorbed flavors, about 10 minutes. Mix garlic, ginger, and 1 tablespoon oil in small bowl; set aside. Combine peanuts and chiles in small bowl; set aside. Mix chicken broth, vinegar, sesame oil, oyster-flavored sauce, hoisin sauce, and cornstarch in small bowl or measuring cup; set aside.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over high heat until just beginning to smoke. Add shrimp and cook, stirring about once every 10 seconds, until barely opaque, 30 to 40 seconds; add peanuts and chiles, stir into shrimp, and continue cooking until shrimp are almost completely opaque and peanuts have darkened slightly, 30 to 40 seconds longer. Transfer shrimp, peanuts, and chiles to bowl; set aside. Return skillet to burner and reheat briefly, 15 to 30 seconds. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, swirl to coat pan, and add red bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 45 seconds. Clear center of pan, add garlic-ginger mixture, mash into pan with spoon or spatula, and cook until fragrant, 10 to 15 seconds; stir into peppers until combined. Stir broth mixture to recombine, then add to skillet along with reserved shrimp, peanuts, and chiles; cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits on bottom of pan, until sauce has thickened to syrupy consistency, about 45 seconds. Stir in scallions; transfer to serving plate and serve immediately.

Filed Under: asian, healthy, one pot meal, rice, seafood, vegetables

mixed berry cobbler (twd)

06/24/2008 By

The mixed berry cobbler that Beth chose for this week’s TWD recipe may be Dorie’s least popular recipe so far. The discussion thread for the recipe had one negative review after another, mostly revolving around a lack of flavor in the biscuit topping.

When I got a chance to look at the recipe closer, I was surprised by how poorly it had been received by other bakers. I compared the ingredients of Dorie’s cobbler topping to my favorite shortbread recipe, and they’re identical except for the shortbread calls for 50% more sugar. True, my favorite cobbler recipes call for even more sugar. Keeping that in mind, I added an extra tablespoon of sugar to the biscuit dough. I also reduced the sugar in the filling just slightly.

I knew immediately after making the biscuit dough that my cobblers were going to be delicious. In my experience, there’s a close correlation between how good the dough tastes and how good the baked good tastes, and this was some very tasty dough.

I was right. A few TWD members also commented that there was too much dough per fruit, but the dough was like a big delicious biscuity cookie, so for me, the more, the better. The biscuit had soaked up the fruit’s juices and was saturated with flavor. I generally shy away from serving my desserts with ice cream (do I really need two desserts in one sitting?), but this time, I couldn’t resist adding just a small scoop of vanilla ice cream to add a sweet balance to the tart berries. Absolutely wonderful.

Dorie’s recipe for Mixed Berry Cobbler can be found on the NPR website.

Filed Under: dessert, fruit, tuesdays with dorie

croque-madame

06/22/2008 By


If you’re looking for the best decadent breakfast ever, here it is. Even better than Eggs Benedict. I think. It’s basically Eggs Benedict with cheese.

The first time I made this, I thought I was making something complicated. But as I slowly worked my way through the recipe, I realized that it’s really a fancy ham and cheese sandwich. One slice of bread is slathered with swiss cheese sauce and the other slice with mustard. The sandwich is “grilled” the same way grilled cheese sandwiches are – browned on the stove with butter, and then it’s smeared with more cheese sauce and broiled until the sauce is spottily browned. The sandwich is topped with a fried egg. (Without the egg, it’s a Croque-Monsieur.)

The first time I had this, I got that heavy feeling afterwards that’s clearly a result of a meal full of fatty proteins and refined carbs. The next time, I made some efforts to lighten up the recipe. Mostly I eliminated some of the nice-but-not-necessary butter and reduced the cheese sauce. I have to admit that the most influential adjustment had to be my portion size.

It’s worth the indulgence. While it’s nigh on impossible to pick favorites, the combination of crispy bread, salty ham, spicy mustard, creamy cheese sauce and smooth yolk certainly makes this a contender for the best breakfast out there. Especially if you have plans to get in some activity later to work off some of that guilt…

Croque-madame (adapted from Gourmet March 2007, as found on epicurious)

Makes 4 servings

Bridget note: You can of course use all shredded cheese. I found it easier to only shred what was going into the sauce and to slice the rest. I’ve used both Country Crust Bread and storebought Italian bread for this recipe and enjoyed both.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1½ cups whole milk
⅛ teaspoon salt
pinch teaspoon black pepper
pinch teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ cup (1 ounce) shredded swiss cheese
4 slices (1.5 ounces) sliced swiss cheese
8 slices firm white sandwich bread
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
½ pound thinly sliced cooked ham (preferably Black Forest)
4 large eggs

1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 1- to 1½-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, then whisk in flour and cook roux, whisking, for 1 minute. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer, whisking occasionally, for 5 minutes. Whisk in salt, pepper, nutmeg, and shredded cheese until cheese is melted. Remove from heat. Stir occasionally while preparing sandwiches to keep hard surface from forming on top of sauce. (Alternatively, place plastic wrap directly on surface of sauce.)

2. Adjust an oven rack to the top position and heat the broiler. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.

3. Spread 1 tablespoons sauce evenly over each of 4 slices of bread, then cover evenly with remaining cheese. Spread mustard evenly on remaining 4 bread slices and top with ham, dividing it evenly, then invert onto cheese-topped bread to form sandwiches.

4. Melt ½ tablespoon butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once melted, add the sandwiches and cook until golden, 3-4 minutes. Remove sandwiches from pan, add remaining ½ tablespoon butter, and return sandwiches, unbrowned side down, to pan. Cook until golden on second side. Transfer sandwiches to prepared baking pan. Do not wash skillet.

5. Top sandwiches with remaining sauce, spreading evenly. Broil sandwiches until sauce is bubbling and golden in spots, 2 to 4 minutes.

6. While sandwiches are broiling, heat the same nonstick pan over medium heat. Spray the pan with nonstick spray if there’s not butter leftover from browning the sandwiches. Crack eggs into skillet and season with salt and pepper. Fry eggs, covered, until whites are just set and yolks are still runny, about 3 minutes. Top each sandwich with a fried egg and serve immediately.

Filed Under: breakfast, cheese, eggs, french, pork, sandwiches
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