Wednesday, February 25

Steamed Coconut Custards

new food fast by Donna Hay
Cookbook 9, Recipe 2 (Total 21)

Quick dessert - yes please!

Did I like it? It's extremely rich. The picture looks like it a supper club - that's what I felt like eating it - comforable food that's very unhealthy for you. I only managed 1/2 a custard.

Recipe:
Combine 3/4 cup coconut milk, 1 1/4 cups cream, 3 T sugar, 4 egg yolks and zest of one lime. Divide between 4 cups or ramekins and steam for 15 minutes.

Sunday, February 22

Macaroni Cheese

new food fast by Donna Hay
Cookbook 9, Recipe 1 (Total 20)

I have a number of Donna Hay cookbooks. I chose this cookbook today because I screwed up getting ingredients for a different recipe in a different cookbook. Not wanting to go to the grocery store again, I decided to see if I could make something out of what's in the house using new food fast.

I like to eat lunch while reading in the sun on my living room floor on Sunday's.

Did I like it? Yes - but you must eat it right away. This is one of those pasta recipes that separates when left alone after cooking. I've noticed French cookbooks tend to have a cream mustard sauce for pasta. This recipe is a slimmer version of that using just a couple of tablespoons - more of a slight coating than a sauce.

The recipe format was a paragraph - basically cook some pasta, drain, add cream, mustard and black pepper to the pan and return the pasta to the pan as well, cook for 2 minutes, add parsley, plate, sprinkle on cheese, bake and serve.

My version:
Bring salted water to a boil and add 4 oz Mostaccioli (about 1 1/2 cups) - cook 9 minutes, drain. In the same pan add 2 T cream, 1 tsp mustard - Cook 1 minute, add 1/4 cup chopped dill and place in oven proof bowls. Top with a mixture of Parmesan and cheddar to equal 1 oz. Bake at 400 for 8 minutes.

Zanzibar Coffee

Where Flavor was Born Recipes and Culinary Travels Along the Indian Ocean Spice Route by Andreas Viestad
Cookbook 8, Recipe 3 (Total 19)

I'm always up for trying new beverages. I happened to have Yemen Mokha coffee beans from a local roster so I used them - I thought Yemen was closer to Zanzibar than it is. Stephen looked it up and said it's about the same distance from Madison to Vancouver... Not exactly close - Oh Well.

Did I like it? Absolutely. It's nicer than the Turkish plain or (heaven forbid!) rosewater boiled coffee. The ginger added at the end is what really made it interesting. It reminded me of hot chocolate spiced with ancho chili's. This coffee gets that punch from ginger and cinnamon.

Recipe
Bring to a boil 2 cups of water with 4 slightly crushed cardamom pods and 2/3 inch piece of cinnamon. Lower heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup coarse ground coffee and bring to a boil. Turn off heat long enough for the grounds to settle. Bring to a boil again and let settle again. Repeat again. Add 3 tsp sugar and 1 tsp dried ground ginger. Pour into four cups. Drink when the grounds have settled.

It's always fun to flip the cup upside down when finished. Some day I'll learn to read grounds.

Monday, February 16

Coconut Curry Cake

Where Flavor was Born Recipes and Culinary Travels Along the Indian Ocean Spice Route by Andreas Viestad
Cookbook 8, Recipe 2 (Total 18)

This recipe does not use "curry powder" but a choice mixture of spices usually in curry. I chose to freshly grate coconut - you can use unsweetened dried. It goes without saying - grind all spices fresh.

Did I like it? Very much. I believe it is the lightest cake I've ever made. That may be in part to the self-rising White Lily flour from Eppie - Thanks Eppie!

Recipe
Beat together 8 T butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Add three eggs, one at a time. Mix together: 1.5 cups self-rising flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground cardamom, 1/4 tsp ground star anise, 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg, 2 tsp freshly grated ginger, 3 T grated coconut. Stir dry ingredients into wet. Spread into a buttered 10 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream. YUM!

Sunday, February 15

Tamarind-Glazed Fruits with Star Anise

Where Flavor was Born Recipes and Culinary Travels Along the Indian Ocean Spice Route by Andreas Viestad
Cookbook 8, Recipe 1 (Total 17)

Stephen gave me this cookbook. We love the infections enthusiasm in the TV series New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viestad. I chose this recipe because I'm always looking for yummy thick fruit sauces

Did I like it? A little but not much. The figs were nice but the rest of the fruit didn't match the weird flavor of the tamarind. It's a very punchy cross between citrus and molasses. I would make it again only with figs as a sort of very small accompaniment to something else. Vanilla ice cream tasted good with 1/2 of the fig on the side. I substituted fresh pineapple with star fruit (fresh pineapple makes me sick). Stephen strongly disliked it - no offense to you or the author but it's the worst thing you've made since starting this project...

Recipe:
Split and scrape a vanilla bean - place the seeds in a large bowl and the pod in a sauce pan. To the sauce pan add: 7 T brown sugar, 1 stock finely chopped lemongrass, 2 tsp minced fresh ginger, 4 star anise, 2 T tamarind paste and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes - until reduced by half.

Quarter and core 2 apples and 2 pears. Slice a star fruit in 1/2 inch slices, cut 8 figs and 8 dried apricots in a half. Rub all fruit with the vanilla seeds.

Heat the oven to 350 and place a 8 inch square pan in it to pre-heat.

Melt 4 T butter in a large sauce pan, add fruits and 4 T rum. Cook until fruits are slightly caramelized (I had to add 2 T brown sugar to get any sort of caramelization). Place fruit in pre-heated pan and pour sauce over. Bake for 10 minutes.

Thursday, February 12

Fresh Anchovies (smelt actually) stuffed with Serrano Ham (prosciutto actually) and Spinach

Tapas With 50 New Recipes, an Updated Edition of the Classic Book That Introduced America to Tapas, by Penelope Casas
Cookbook 7 Recipe 3 (Total 16)

Happy Birthday to Stephen Part 3 How do I love Stephen? Let me count the ways... On his 33rd Birthday I learned to gut a fish. On his 33rd Birthday I gut 10 fish. On his 33rd Birthday I chopped off 10 fish heads. On his 33rd Birthday I learned how to strip the spinal cord out of a fish. I popped the air sack of 10 fish... I even cut the top and bottom fins off the fish.

Anyway - I also cooked a blueberry pie for dinner and served him blueberry scones and a latte in bed for breakfast.

For Dyanna & Jason's benefit this recipe can be found on page 19.

Did I like it? Yech.. But Stephen ate 8 of the 10 - it was his most favorite dish. He loved it.


Recipe:
Gut and remove the fins and spinal cord of 10 smelts. Set aside

Wash 1/4 lb spinach - chop - throw in to a pan with some salt and pepper and wilt.
Meanwhile, heat 1 T oil in a saute pan with 1 crushed garlic clove. Add wilted spinach when garlic is just cooked.

Make white sauce: Heat 1 T butter and add 1.5 T flour - cook 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup clam juice and 1/2 cup milk. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg - cook until thick. Add 2 T to the spinach, coat the bottom of a 8 inch square pan and set the rest aside.

Stuff each fish with a strip of prosciutto and 1 T spinach. Cover fish with reserved sauce and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Basque-Style Crab with Phyllo and Alioli

Tapas With 50 New Recipes, an Updated Edition of the Classic Book That Introduced America to Tapas, by Penelope Casas
Cookbook 7 Recipe 2 (Total 15)

Happy Birthday to Stephen Part 2 Stephen selected about 20 recipes from this book that he was interested in trying. Unfortunately for me ALL of them were seafood based. Oh Well. If I had to assign a smell to an old fisherman's boat docked in the harbor - it would be this filling. The mixture of clam juice, brandy and white wine seems to require a ship and a pipe.

For Dyanna & Jason's benefit this recipe can be found on page 123.

Did I like it? Loved the smell, the taste was OK for seafood.

Recipe:
Heat 1 T olive oil in a pan. Add 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1/4 cup chopped leeks, 1 clove garlic minced - cook until softened. Add 1/4 cup chopped canned tomatoes from your summer canning adventure, 1 T minced heart of celery leaves (I forgot to purchase parsley), pinch of salt, pinch of pepper, 2 T clam juice, 2 T brandy, 2 T dry white wine -simmer until most liquid has evaporated. Add 1/4 lb chopped up crab meat and simmer 1 more minute.

Stack up three sheets of phyllo dough and cut the stack in to triangles. Fry them in 365 degree peanut oil for 1 minute.

Place phyllo triangle on a plate and top with warm crab mixture.

The recipe's Alioli was a complete bomb - it was too liquidy in the first place and then separated on me. After three hours of cooking I didn't really care.

Lobster and Chestnut Croquettes

Tapas With 50 New Recipes, an Updated Edition of the Classic Book That Introduced America to Tapas, by Penelope Casas
Cookbook 7 Recipe 1 (Total 14)

Happy Birthday to Stephen Part 1 I cooked three Tapas for Stephen's birthday yesterday. He had class and didn't get home until 9:20 so I had from 6:00-9:00 to cook:) I chose this cookbook because Stephen's sister and her husband gave it to me for my birthday last year - a fitting cookbook to use for Stephen's Birthday this year.

Did I like it? Yes! Next time I would substitute minced shrimp for the lobster and shredded Tetilla cheese for the chestnuts. Then they would taste just like the croquettes I love at Solera - which by the way do not taste strongly of shrimp - probably why I like it. The batter reminded me of cream puff (pate a choix).

I've never cooked lobster before so when the recipe said simmer until cooked through I didn't know how long that was... I ended up taking it off way too soon and adding it back in.

For Dyanna & Jason's benefit this recipe can be found on page 182.

Recipe:
Place a small lobster tail in salted water to cover and boil till

Roast 6 caned chestnuts in the oven for 8-10 minutes - then mince.

Place lobster tail in water to cover, add salt and bring to a boil. Boil about 8 minutes until the flesh is opaque. Remove lobster, separate meat from shell. Place the shell back in the water and boil for 10 more minutes. Chop the lobster meat up.

Meanwhile, heat 4 T olive oil over high heat and add 6 T flour, cook 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup dry white wine, 1/4 cup water from boiling lobster, pinch salt and pepper. Cook until thick - about 1 minute. Add chestnuts and lobster and cook for 1 more minute.

Spread mixture out onto a plate and refrigerate until firm. Roll into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in to beaten egg, followed by panko crumbs. Place back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Fry in 365 peanut oil for 2 minutes. Keep in a 200 oven until ready to serve (30 minutes max).

Wednesday, February 4

Herbed Barley and Mushroom Casserole

The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever With More Than 500 Recipes! by Beatrice Ojakangas
Cookbook 6, Recipe 2, (Total 13)

I chose this recipe because I had homemade beef stock to use up.

An aside on my beef stock. Last November we purchased a 25lb bag of various beef bones for $12 from a local farmer. I don't really like beef but who could pass up that deal (we could have purchased 40lbs for the same price - I'm not that crazy for a deal). Anyway I roasted a bunch of bones at 400 for 45 minutes, transferred them to a pot, covered them with water and placed it on the lowest setting for 22 hours. Yep 22 hours - Nope I did not inform Stephen of what I was doing. If he would have inquired about what I was doing - I would have told him and he would have had strong objections - so I didn't purposely inform him. The result was the most excellent beef stock we've eaten!

Anyway the house smelled like stuffing while this baked.

Did I Like it? Yes - it's very pleasant tasting and extremely easy to make. I was expecting to want cranberries and turkey but it holds its own. It's very healthy and makes you feel virtuous.

Recipe
Melt 2T of butter in a 2qt casserole dish on the stove top. Add one chopped onion, 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms, 2T chopped sage leaves, 1T chopped thyme leaves - saute until softened. Stir in 1.5 cups whole barley (not pearled please) until coated with mixture. Add 2 cups of beef stock, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook at 350 for 45 minutes. Add another cup of beef stock, cover and cook for 30 more minutes.

Norwegian Lemon Custard

The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever With More Than 500 Recipes! by Beatrice Ojakangas
Cookbook 6, Recipe 1 (Total 12)

I am sad that my first major flop is an Ojakangas recipe. She's one of my top two authors...oh well...I made this on Monday, hoped on Tuesday that it might improve, threw it in the garbage today.

I was really looking forward to eating this - it's supposed to be the type of recipe that bakes into two layers - the bottom is custard and the top is a sort of egg white cake. However, the custard layer did not set up. I thought that if I set it in the refrigerator overnight it might firm up - nope.

Did I like it? Nope it was liquidy and weirdly separated underneath the top. I decided if the recipe is a flop I won't bother posting the recipe.

Sunday, February 1

Punjabi Split Chickpeas and Lamb Curry

1,000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra
Cookbook 5, Recipe 2 (Total 11)

You may have noticed that I have a lot of lamb meat from Bob Otis. We purchased 1/2 a lamb from him in October and have been slowly working our way though it. Occasionally we purchase some chicken or pork but mostly if we eat meat it's lamb at the moment. I still have two packages of stew meat left and choose this recipe to use one up. The recipe calls for 1 lb boneless leg of lamb - stew meat is great. I like to save my roasts for roasting.

Also - since I canned tomatoes again this summer I like to use them in place of fresh during the winter. I can them whole and then simply open a jar and use 1.5 tomatoes to what the recipe calls for.

Did I like it? Yes sir. The black cardamom smokiness and the lemon juice combine for a flavor not generally found in american cuisine - it took a couple of bites to warm up to. Stephen and I both were expecting a creamy dish, something on the order of split pea soup. The peas were pleasantly toothsome (I can't think of a better way to say firm but not dry).

How to cook this dish...
Soak 1/2 cup split yellow peas in water (to cover by 2 inches) for 1 hour.

Heat 2 T oil in a pan, add 4 black cardamom pods (crushed just slightly) and 1 inch of cinnamon. Cook for aprox 30 seconds. Add one chopped onion and cook until browned - about 5 minutes. Stir in: 1 T minced ginger, 1 crushed clove of garlic, 1/2 a minced jalapeno, 1 Tablespoon ground coriander, 1 tsp garam masala, and 1/4 tsp turmeric. Add 1 lb lamb stew meat from Mr Bob Otis, and cook until browned - 15-20 minutes. Add drained peas and cook 5 minutes. Add 3 cups of water, cover and cook 30 minutes. Add 3 chopped canned tomatoes, 2 T lemon juice and 1/2 cup chopped parsley - cook 10 minutes.