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.

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!

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.

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).

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.

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.

Whole Cauliflower in Traditional Curry Sauce

1,000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Bantra
Cookbook 5, Recipe 1 (total 10)

Happy Birthday Mom (yesterday). Mom picked out this recipe for her Birthday meal from the cookbooks I had selected for this project. Neelam Bantra is an excellent Indian cookbook author - I've used this book many times in the past. Mom looked through the many post-it noted recipes and choose this dish not realizing that the cauliflower is cooked whole.

Did I like it? I tasted good - the look was appropriate for an MST3k evening - brain on a plate...

Recipe

Take a 1.5 lb cauliflower and cut out the stem as deep as you can to form a cavity inside the head while still leaving it whole. Steam for 15 -20 minutes - until slightly tender.

While it is steaming blend together the following ingredients to make a paste: 1 onion, two "thumbs" of ginger, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 jalapeno. Place into a bowl. Then blend 4 canned whole tomatoes and set in a separate bowl. Then blend 1/2 cup yogurt with 1 cup water and 1/4 tsp nutmeg, place in a third bowl.

In a small bowl combine: 1.5 tps ground cumin, 1/2 tsp garam masala, 1/4 tsp turmeric and 1/2 tsp salt.

Heat a wok on high and add 1 T oil - brown the head of cauliflower until browned as best you can all over - set aside. Add the onion paste and cook for 10 minutes or until well browned. Add the tomatoes and cook until most of the moisture is evaporated. Add the dry spices and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the yogurt mixture and bring to a boil.

Move the sauce to a pan with a lid and add the cauliflower - cavity side down - cover and simmer 10 minutes. Flip the cauliflower cavity side up - fill the cavity with sauce - cover and simmer 20 minutes.

Quinoa, Bacon and Mushroom Cake

Chocolate & Zucchini, Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen, by Clotilde Dusoulier
Cookbook 4, Recipe 3, (Total 9)

This author likes to explore French natural foods stores and is shows up in recipes such as this with quinoa. I've cooked a couple of breakfast dishes with quinoa never a savory dinner.

Did I like it? Yes, it was interesting in a positive way. I would describe it as almost barney - like you would describe an English farmhouse cheddar. I was happy to find it paired very well with the Carignane wine that I purchased to drink with it. I first enjoyed Carignane two years ago at a restaurant with beef (which I generally do not enjoy) it was excellent. I later learned that it's usually a grape used for blending into other wines not featured on its own. Anyway another interesting bit of info is quinoa is actually an herb not a grain.


Recipe
Bring to a boil 2 cups of water, add one cup of quinoa and a pinch of salt. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, turn heat off and leave cover on for 5 more minutes.

Cook 3 strips of thick cut bacon, place aside. Drain the fat out of the pan and cook 1/2 a chopped onion over medium heat until soft, add 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms and cook covered 3 minutes or until the mushrooms have given off their liquid. Cook with out the cover until most of the liquid is gone.

Chop 1/4 cup parsley and mixed with crumbled bacon.

Beat 2 eggs and 2 T cream in a bowl, add 1/4 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked quinoa and mushrooms, fold in bacon and parsley.

Place in a 7 inch spring form pan and bake at 400 for 35 minutes, until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Side note: Stephen wasn't around to hold this book down so I could get a closer shot of the recipe. If you click on most of the cookbook/recipe shots - they will enlarge big enough for you to read the original recipe.

Chocolate & Zucchini Cake

Chocolate & Zucchini, Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen, by Clotilde Dusoulier
Cookbook 4, Recipe 2, (Total 8)


With a cookbook titled Chocolate & Zucchini of course I need to make this cake. The recipe made a 10 inch cake - I cut the recipe in half to make a 7 inch cake.

Did I like it? It's yummy, but strange to see green things in my chocolate cake!

Recipe:
Beat together:
1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar
Add:
2 eggs, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp instant coffee pwdr
In another bowl combine:
1 cup flour, 1/4 cup dutched cocoa-pwdr, 1/2 tsp b. pwdr, 1/4 tsp b. soda, 1/4 tsp salt
Take 1/2 cup of the flour mixture and add to:
1 cup grated unpeeled zucchini and 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate.
Mix butter mixture with flour, then fold in zucchini.
Bake in a buttered 7 inch spring form pan at 350 for 40-50 minutes.

Celeriac Remoulade with Trout Roe

Chocolate & Zucchini, Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen by Clotilde Dusoulier
Cookbook 4, Recipe 1 (Total 7)

Rachel bought me this cookbook for my Birthday last year. I've admired the recipes in it many times but sadly have not made anything until today. It's one of those few cookbooks that have both great photography and good recipes.

I was surprised at her definition of a medium celeriac - 3 lbs! Most celeriac I find around here is maybe 1 to 1.5 lbs.

Did I like it? Yes. Both Stephen and I were wishing for hot dogs to accompany it. It's coleslaw and pickles all rolled into one dish. I believe it will become my new picnic dish.

To make this side dish:
In a bowl combine:
3/4 cup Greek Style Yogurt
2 Tsp Dijon mustard
1 T lemon juice
1 clove garlic smashed and minced
2 T chopped dill
Add in
1.5 lbs grated celeriac
Salt and pepper to taste. Let sit in the refrigerator for 1 or more hours before serving.

Lamb and Leeks Mahala

The Complete Greek Cookbook, The Best from 3000 Years of Greek Cooking, by Theresa Karas Yianilos
Cookbook 3, Recipe 2, (total 6)

The more I read this cookbook the more it reminds me of a Chinese American restaurant where you can find (fill in the blank) Pork, Chicken or Beef. Pick your sauce and choose your meat.

Did I like it? Yes, but I wouldn't make it again. Instead I would adapt the Lamb and Cabbage Stew recipe from Andreas Viestad's cookbook to include leeks. Both recipes are essentially boiled dinner - I missed the cabbage and whole black peppers tonight.

Recipe
Heat 1 T oil over high heat and add 1 lb of lamb meat (lamb stew meat from bob otis again), cook for 10 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups water, 3 chopped up leeks, 1 clove smashed garlic and 1 tsp salt, cover and simmer for 2 hours.

Avgholemono (Egg and Lemon Soup)

The Complete Greek Cookbook, The best from 3000 Years of Cooking by Theresa Karas Yianilos
Cookbook 3, Recipe 1, (5 Total)

I bought this cookbook a while ago for a buck at half price. The chapter titled "Feasting in Ancient Greece" including recipes for peacock, camel (hump, stomach or feet), and Hippocrates spiced wine caught my attention. Plus this lady seems to think that all Greek recipes are straight from the ancient times...it amuses me.

2 Quarts Chicken Broth
1/2 cup rice
3 eggs
Juice of 2 lemons (1/3 cup in today's case)

Bring the chicken broth to a boil. Add rice and simmer 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl whisk eggs until thick, whisk in lemon juice.

Bring the soup back to a boil and then pour into a tureen, take a cup of the hot stock and whisk into the egg/lemon mixture. Repeat. Whisk the egg mixture into the soup tureen. Serve immediately.

The biscuits in the picture are made with White Lily Flour brought to me from Eppie - Thanks Eppie!

Pork (Lamb actually) in Oaxacan Mole Verde

Foods of the Americas Native Recipes and Traditions by Fernando and Marlene Divina and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
Cookbook 2, Recipe 2 (4 total)

I used Lamb instead of Pork for this recipe. Unfortunately I did not do a very good job of getting ingredients this time around. I should have had dried oregano and parsley on hand...Oh Well... This cookbook has an issue with waste - I ended up with at least 1 1/2 cups of extra sauce.

Did I like it? Yes - it was excellent. I wouldn't expect swiss chard, romaine, and pumpkin seeds to go well together but it was yummy.

How to make this recipe:
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 40 minutes:
1 pgk lamb stew meat from Bob Otis (i think it was about 3/4 lb - i should have used 1.5 lbs), 2 cups chicken stock, 5 pepper corns, 1/2 a chopped onion, 1 inch cinnamon stick.

Meanwhile pan roast:
1/8 tsp cumin seed, 1/8 tsp anise seed, 2 allspice, 2 cloves - place into a bowl.

Then roast:
1/4 cup raw pumpkins seeds until they start popping - add to previous spices.

Then roast:
1/4 cup sesame seeds - add to previous spices.

In a blender puree:
1/2 cup tomatillo salsa (i couldn't find fresh tomatillos), 1/2 cup water, 1/2 - 1 jalapeno chile, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 onion.

Heat 2 T oil in pan, Add blendered items. Cook for aprox 7 minutes. Place back in blender with spices and 1/ cup of the stock you have been simmering the lamb in - puree. Place back in pan and simmer 10 minutes.

Take a cup of the stock you have been simmering the lamb in and add 2 T corn meal. Add that to the spiced/tomatilo mixture. Simmer 10 minutes.

In a blender puree:
3/4 cup water, 3 leaves romaine, 2 leaves swiss chard. Add to simmered mixture with the simmered meat. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Roasted Chile Poblano Rellenos

Foods of the Americas Native Recipes and Traditions by Fernando and Marlene Divina and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
Cookbook 2, Recipe 1



I purchased this cookbook a number of years ago at the Half Price in St. Louis Park. It's the only cookbook I've ever seen with the Smithsonian as a contributing author. The recipes are interspersed with photos from the Smithsonian collection as well as photos of artifacts.

A note about this recipe - I strongly disagree with recipes that call for baking/cooking an entire item only to use a fraction of it in the actual dish. This one called for an entire sweet potato to be baked and then only used 2 Tablespoons - sacrilege says I!

A note about dried chipotle - After chopping my dried chipotle I swept it from the cutting board into the dish with the back of my right hand. See photo below of me soaking my hand in cold milk. Just because its dry does not mean it can't burn skin...oops...

Did I like it? Stephen and I both described the filling as Fun. Half way through our respective chile's we ran for milk...I would use the filling, minus the whole dried chipotle, to stuff plain old green peppers.

Recipe
Roast 4 poblano chilis over fire until they are black, place in plastic bag for five minutes, rub all the black skin off. Cut a slit the length of the chile and stuff with filling. Roast covered with foil for 30 minutes at 400.

Filling - mix all ingredients:
2 T currants, plumped and drained
1/2 cup roasted sweet potato in 1/4 in dice (or there abouts)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup grated Pleasant Ridge Reserve (recipe called for Gouda)
1 chipolte minced (disregard!)
1/2 tsp adobo sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup ricotta salata (recipe called for queso fresco or ricotta cheese, I thought ricotta salata to be a better substitute)

I will now go fill up on brownies that just came out of the oven - Wee Hoo!

The Rolled Souffle

The Way to Cook by Julia Child
Cookbook 1, Recipe 2

This recipe was chosen as a Birthday lunch for Stephen's Mom. Her Birthday was yesterday and we had her over for lunch today. Stephen did much of the cooking on this one.

Did I like it? Delish!

Bechamel sauce:
8 T butter
2/3 cup Flour
3 Cups Hot Milk
1 tsp salt
Melt butter in pan, add flour and cook until it looses it's paste-like quality and becomes more of a foam. Add hot milk, whisking quickly. Bring to a simmer and cook aprox 3 minutes - until thick and coats a spoon.

Souffle:
3 Cups bechamel sauce
3/4 tsp paprika
pinch nutmeg
3/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
6 eggs
1 cup grated swiss cheese
Whisk paprika, nutmeg salt, pepper and egg yolks together. Whisk egg whites to a stiff peak. Fold 1/4 beaten egg whites into yolk mixture. Add the swiss cheese and fold in the remaining egg whites. Pour into a buttered and parchment lined jelly roll pan (half-sheet pan) and cook at 425 12-15 minutes. (Stephen forgot to look at the temperature required for this recipe. As he was putting it in the oven I asked if it was at the correct temp. Nope it was at 375. So ours was placed in the oven at 375 then turned up to 425 and cooked for 18 minutes) Bake until set (doesn't giggle) and immediately flip out onto another sheet of parchment paper - let set for five minutes. Then remove the paper, spread with remaining 2 cups of bechamel sauce (we only had one) followed by the piperade. Roll up lengthwise and serve.

Piperade (Filling):
Heat a saute pan with 2 T olive oil. Saute 1 onion over medium heat until translucent, add a sliced red, green and yellow peeper along with a mashed clove of garlic. Saute 2-3 minutes - until the peepers are just barely tender.

Hashed Brown Turnip Cakes with Ham and Eggs

The Way to Cook by Julia Child
Cookbook 1, Recipe 1

Just to clarify a couple of items right away. I will give you the recipe as I made it not necessarily as the cookbook said to make it. For the purposes of this endeavor my definition of a week is flexible. A week may start on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday - which ever suits my needs!

Did I like it? If I liked turnips I would have. I tried this recipe because I had leftover ham and I'm trying to like turnips. They are similar to brussel sprouts - I'm not a fan of the mustard-e-ness. However, if you like turnips I'm sure you would like this. Normally I will give you Stephen's opinion as well - he was not here to taste it.

Mise en place
Leftover ham about 1/2 to 3/4 cup
butter to fry ham in
1 turnip
1 potato about 1/2 the size of the turnip
1 egg
2 spoons of sour cream
butter to fry turnip/potato hash in
Freshly chopped tarragon
1 egg

Directions
Place water on to boil for poached egg. Grate the potato and turnip into the towel, wring out as much water as possible. Beat egg with 2 sour cream, add turnip/potato mixture, add salt and pepper to taste. Heat up butter in a skillet to fry hash in and fry it up how you would like.* Place egg in boiling water for 10 seconds. Turn the water down to the lowest setting and crack the egg into it - simmer for 5 minutes. Heat butter in another pan and fry up the ham adding tarragon to taste. When hash is done place on a large plate, top with ham followed by the poached egg. Season with tarragon to taste.

*Julia Child calls for a 1/16 inch of butter or oil in a non-stick pan to fry your hash in. I do not own a non-stick pan and I didn't want to fry with that much butter/oil. I simply added 2 tsp of butter and fried it up not expecting to have a nice patty.

The Year of the 52 Cookbooks

As I informed you in my Christmas Thank You letters I will be starting this blog up again. Below are pictures of the chosen cookbooks. Wee Hoo.

The bottom picture are the books that did not make it. The third picture are books that were given as presents from family.

dinner

we had grilled cheese last night!
ooo, I saw a recipie on t.v.
You put mozarella cheese and fresh basil in a sandwich, dip it in flower, then egg, then bread crumbs, then you fry it.
It sounds good .

Smelt Fries and The Butchers Plate

I've been wanting to have dinner at the this new restaurant in town - The Red Stag Supper Club. I ate brunch a while ago and thought it was excellent. As you can see we ordered Smelt Fries and The Butchers Plate - very fun. They were better than our entrees. The Smelt Fries were served with cocktail sauce and tarter sauce. The Butchers Plate consists of potted duck, pigs in a blanket served with mustard and a scotch egg.

Fun bartender - I drank bee's knees. I've made it myself before but their version was much yummier! They used Beefeater gin which is usually too sweet for me however, in this drink it was excellent with the honey and orange juice.

Death's Door Cocktail Experiment #1

1 part Death's Door Gin
1/2 part Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
1/2 part Syrup from Homemade Maraschino Cherries
1 spring fresh tarragon (4 inches)

Muddle all ingredients. Shake with ice. Strain into glass and top with soda (no more than one part). I based my recipe using 1 part = 1 oz.

I took a Tom Collins recipe and used it to create something interesting. The tarragon smells stronger than it tastes.

For a stronger flavor omit the soda.

It's a lovely cocktail. My camera ran out of power so I'll add a picture later.

Acorn Eating Pigs are Yummy!

We found Jamon Iberico! This is a cured ham made from wild pigs in Spain who run around eating acorns. The ham just became legal in the US a couple months ago. At $75 a pound we ordered 2 ounces but the counter lady thought Stephen said .5 ounce. It's super yummy!

Yuzu Souffle

Last Sunday I cooked a Yuzu Souffle in teacups. The picture is after it had fallen about a 1/2 inch. The Yuzu juice was purchased from an Asian grocery store. It tastes like a cross between tangerine and lemon - kinda like a meyer lemon but sweeter. Also in the picture is a candied ginger scone with dried cherries that I plumped in vanilla rum - Delicious!

yummy

we ate beef with snow peas and fried rice and creamcheese puffs. ummmm.
it was good!

The Pea is On The Plate....The Pea is Off The Plate

Need I say more?

50's Jello Mold

Stephen requested a jello mold for his birthday party. This is made with 4 1/2 cups of rose wine, 2 T peach schnaps, 8 packets of jelatin and 3 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. The recipe is from epicurious - they call it Rose-Peach Gelee - I call it chewing wine....

(the tiki embelishments look like they are comming out of the jello - they are not - I wish I had done that.)

Swedish Meatballs

Swedish Meatballs w/Gravy and Red Potatoes

Based on Ojakangas recipe for Swedish Meatballs from Country Tastes written in 1988.
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 chopped onion
1/4 cup bread crumbs (or more)
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp allspice (required!)
Mix and form into 1 inch balls and bake at 500 for 10-15 minutes

Gravy:
brown 1/4 cup flour in a pan, whisk in 2 cups milk (or half and half) cook until thickened and add meatballs.

This picture is from our vacation in January to a cabin on Lake Superior.

Pop - Successfull Sealing!

I've never liked Marmalade but I figure maybe it's because I haven't made it myself....I'm not sure I like it made by me either. I'm processing the last batch as I write this - a 15 minute hot water bath for the smaller jars - I'm done with the larger ones.

In my opinion most jelly and jam recipes have faulty instructions for determining when the jelly is "set". Almost all say when "the one drop becomes a sheet off the spoon it is done" - usually that means your jelly is entirely overcooked. So here is a picture of first and slightly undercooked jelly and then a just right jelly (in my humble opinion).

If you compare the base of the drop of jelly in the first picture to the second picture you will notice a much wider base in the second. That I believe is the key to making good jelly - no it doesn't "sheet" off - it drips off and pulls from a wide base of the spoon. You'll also notice in there is less of an O with a belt shape in the second picture - the drip is more sloping.

Also you will notice I use the back of the spoon - I find this to be a much better method of looking at the drip - if you use the concave part of the spoon the liquid wells up at the base and then spills over and it's difficult to get an accurate look at the liquid because it all wants to spill over. However, if you watch the liquid drip off in a nice slow non hurried fashion off the reverse side of the spoon - you'll get a much more accurate look at it's thickness/viscosity.

Anyway that's my rant. This Seville Orange Marmalade has been a three day process. Tuesday: wash the oranges, juice the oranges, strain the juice, slice the peel, add an equal volume of water as juice/peel, let sit in cool place 24 hrs. Wednesday: Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat and gently simmer 20 minutes. Today: measure liquid, bring liquid to a boil and add 2 T balsamic vinegar, gently simmer 20 minutes, add an equal volume of sugar as liquid measured at the start, bring to a boil and then simmer 35 minutes (till done) add 1 teaspoon bitters. Process.

sticky toffee pudding

Last night was a fun cooking night. Matt and I tried a new tempeh recipe, potato and tempeh patties. They turned out delicious, tasted kind of like pakoras but bigger and creamy. So so tasty, I had leftovers for lunch today and they were just as good. They were spiced with coriander, cumin, cayenne, and tandoori. We had coleslaw on the side.

At work yesterday I stumbled on a recipe for sticky toffee pudding and had to make it for dessert that night! (pudding in the British for dessert, it is a cake) It's from epicurious, here's the recipe, it is really sweet, but very good.

Simmer 1 cup dates in 1 cup water about 5 minutes and then let sit covered.
Beat 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in 1 egg.
Sift 1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/8 tsp salt and mix into butter mixture.
Then add dates (and the water they were soaking in) and mix just until well combined.

Bake in a greased and floured 8" round pan for about 30 minutes at 350.

Then, melt 1/2 cup butter, stir in 1 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup water, and a pinch of salt.
Boil over medium high heat until sauce is reduced to 1 1/4 cups. (how does one know when it is 1 1/4 cups? no idea, I just boiled it until it ran off the back of a spoon slower and smelled all caramel/toffee-like, maybe about 5-8 minutes?)

With "pudding" still in pan poke it all over with a chopstick or a fork, then pour over half of the warm toffee sauce. Let it sit for 15 minutes to soak in, then turn the cake onto a plate and pour the other half of the sauce over the "pudding"
Then dig in!

dinner

For dinner I backed potatoes and cut them in circles and filled the bottom of a dish, then i took leftover thick bean soup and poured that over, then covered it with cheese that melted. It was pretty good.

Soup

Mom made some great, cailiflower/brocolie/cheesey soup.
It was good!

Happy Valentines Day

Mom made a whole batch of cookies, choc chip, walnuts, almonds. And she made the entire batch into one big heart! Yumm yumm
It's huge! and tastes great!

Chinese

Yumm, I got some food from the 'Fortune House' Beef with snowpeas and pork fried rice and creamcheese wontons.
It was really good!

HEllo?

Hey, is anybody out there?
lalalala
I had chilli while watching the big game, Kenny - Allisons husband- made it. yummyumm

BULGAR

Yum, bulger stuffed peppers. With apples, raisins, and yumminess.

Mac and Cheese!!!!!!!

Hi all,
I just bought a fancy bag of mac and cheese. yummmm.
It's the liquid cheese, not the powder stuff. for $2.99

Happy Day!
~Sarah~

Swedish Butterhorns - Tea Ring Style

I made the Ojakangas recipe for Swedish Cinnamon Butterhorns and rolled the dough out Swedish tea ring style (roll the dough out cinnamon roll style; join the log into a circle; cut the dough at intervals and twist every other section into the middle of the ring). The recipe is in the book I made for you a couple of years ago - it's a handy refrigerator style. The dough was made mid-afternoon yesterday - I slept in until 9:00 and ate this warm by 10:00 this morning.