Aquavit Sorbet

Kitchen of Light New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viestad
Cookbook 46, Recipe 2 (total 96)


Did I like it? The taste will depend on your aquavit. I used Krogstad Aquavit which has more liquorish flavor than the traditional Linie Aquavit. It's very pleasant and a little deceiving - the alcohol content of this sorbet is high enough that it will not freeze solid.

Recipe: Boil 1 cup sugar, zest of two lemons and 1.5 cups of water for five minutes. Add 1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice and cool. Add 2/3 cup aquavit and pour into a pie pan place in the freezer. Fluff with a fork every 30 minutes (mine didn't start freezing until an hour).

Lamb and Cabbage Stew

Kitchen of Light New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viestad
Cookbook 46, Recipe 1 (total 95)

The New Scandinavian Cooking Series with Andreas Viestad is my favorite cooking show. He is happy, enthusiastic and has great recipes.

Did I like it? I've made this recipe at least three times before - it's excellent. The only problem with this recipe is the water. The printed version calls for 4 cups, the TV episode calls to cover the cabbage and meat with water - in my experience that's 8 cups - twice as much.

Recipe: 4.5 lbs of misc. lamb cuts (a roast, a shank, neck bones and some ribs is a nice mix) cut into chunks. 1 cabbage cut in half and then thinly sliced. Into your largest pot layer the meat and cabbage. Add 2 T whole black peppercorns, 2 bay leaves, 3T butter and 1T flour, Add water and stop as it just approaches the top layer of cabbage. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then simmer for 2 hours. Add salt (aprox 1.5 T kosher) and simmer for 30 more minutes. Serve with bread and beer.

Croque Monsieur

The Harry's Bar Cookbook by Arrigo Cipriani
Cookbook 45, Recipe 2 (total 94)

I've always thought of a Croque Monsieur as a grilled cheese sandwich - it is - just a heck of a lot better than the horrible ones made with american cheese. Late in posting again - I made these on Tuesday. I had a midterm on Wednesday that I had to study for and then worked massive overtime Thursday - Saturday - I should be back on track now...

Did I like it? This flavor is one of those defined as classic. After tasting the first bite I realized I've had the combination of Swiss cheese and Worcestershire before. I didn't follow the recipes instructions to have the cheese at room temperature and discovered it is necessary if you want the cheese to completely melt - I would recommend following those instructions.

Recipe: Grate 1/2 lb of Swiss cheese and add 1 egg yolk, 1 T Worcestershire sauce, 1tsp dijon mustard, 1/16 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp salt. Try to smash it up well with each other - add a little cream to make it form a bit of a paste. Sandwich a thin slice of ham between two thin bread slices, each spread with cheese. Heat a pan with a film olive oil over medium heat until very hot. Fry the sandwiches on both sides. Serve with leftover leek soup from Monday.

Vellutata Di Porri (Leek Soup)

The Harry's Bar Cookbook by Arrigo Cipriani
Cookbook 45, Recipe 1 (total 93)

I'm late in posting again...

This was another difficult cookbook to use. They have an entire chapter on Truffles and like the James Beard cookbook, the recipes tend to be very heavy. I bought this cookbook for $1 at Half Price.

Did I like it? It tasted great but I would rather have a vichyssoise. I thought this would make a great base for a wild rice soup. It tasted better the next day for lunch.

Recipe: Melt 1/4 cup butter in a pot and saute 1 chopped celery stalk, 1 chopped onion, 8 chopped leeks (white part only) until softened. Add 1 large peeled diced potato and saute for a minute. Add 2 quarts of chick stock and cook until vegetables are soft. Puree and taste for salt and pepper.

Stephen helped with the recipe - he had most of the sauteing done before I came home last Monday - Thanks Stephen!

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

James Beard's Menus for Entertaining Over 600 incomparable recipes - for every occasion from a roadside picnic to a formal dinner by James Beard
Cookbook 44, Recipe 2 (total 92)

Life got a little over busy these past two weeks and will continue for the next two as well. Stephen offered to help get me caught up this week by making a recipe from the book for me. I didn't expect spaghetti for breakfast but I'm not complaining!

This is a very difficult cookbook to cook from, the choices are either very 60's or very heavy. I've hemmed and hawed over what to cook more than any another cookbook this year. I'm glad Stephen stepped in to help - I don't like to cook from this book.

Did I like it? It was very rich in taste and would make a good once in a while dinner.

Recipe: Cut 1/4 lb of thick cut bacon in to 1/2 inch squares and cook. Remove from pan and deglaze pan with 5T white wine. Cook 1/2 lb of thin spaghetti, drain and return to pot. Add the bacon, and wine deglaze to the noodles. Mix in 1 well beaten egg (should cook due to hot noodles and wine deglaze) and pepper. Serve with parmesean.

Apple Tart (& Rich Pastry Dough)

James Beard's Menus for Entertaining Over 600 incomparable recipes - for every occasion from a roadside picnic to a formal dinner by James Beard
Cookbook 44, Recipe 1 (total 91)

The pie crust drew my attention to this recipe. No water, milk etc... just an egg yolk.

Did I like it? Delicious and deceptively simple. The vanilla flavor actually steams into the apples.

Recipe:
Rich Pastry Dough: Mix 1 cup flour with 1.5T sugar. Cut in 1/4 cup plus 2 T butter. Mix in 1 egg yolk and just enough of the white to make it come together. Refrigerate for 1/2 hour. Roll out for a tart pan (9 in round or 7 in square). (It called for 1.5 hard boiled egg yolk or 1 fresh egg yolk or 1 egg white. My one fresh egg yolk wasn't enough to pull the dough together so I added a very small portion of the white as well.)

Apples: 6 apples - peel, core and slice into sixths. Add slices along with 1tsp vanilla to a pan with 4 T melted butter. Cover and cook for 8 minutes - until tender - not mushy.

Assemble: Sprinkle the bottom of the tart pan with sugar. Place the apples in a even arrangement on top. Sprinkle with sugar and cook at 400 for 10 minutes and 350 for 25 minutes until browned. Cool. Melt apricot jam (see July 19th!), strain through a sieve and glaze the tart.

Buttermilk Biscuits

hallelujah! the welcome table A lifetime of memories with recipes by Maya Angelou
Cookbook 43, Recipe 2 (total 90)

This recipe was created with the help of all three sisters - Wee Hoo. Eppie & Matt gave me the cookbook, Sarah gave me the french rolling pin and Rachel gave me the copper cookie cutter. THANKS SISTERS (and brother-in-law)! The pastry blender was a bridal shower gift from one of the Aunts - I can't remember which one gave it to me. I baked these biscuits to accompany chili on Thursday.

Did I like it? While the Cooks Illustrated buttermilk biscuits are a little fluffier out of the oven, these biscuits remain tender the next day. I will definitely add these to my biscuit options. The recipe called for lard, not butter.

Recipe: Blend 4 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 6 tsp baking powder and 1tsp baking soda together. With a pastry blender, cut in 1 cup of butter. Quickly stir in 2 cups of buttermilk and dump on to the counter. Quickly and lightly knead and roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into biscuits and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Serve with apple butter! Stephen, his brother Jon, and I ate an entire jar of apple butter with these - yum!

Banana Pudding

hallelujah! the welcome table A lifetime of memories with recipes by Maya Angelou
Cookbook 43, Recipe 1 (total 89)

I'm a full week late in posting this recipe. I made this last Sunday.

Did I like it? This recipe tasted like it should have been a memory. My mother didn't make this for me as a kid - I'm betting many mothers did make it and their children would love this. Both Stephen and I found ourselves eating too much. The sugar drew me and then made me feel ill. I appreciate that this recipe uses the complete 8 eggs - yolks for the pudding and whites for the meringue.

Recipe: Combine 1/3 sugar, 1/3 cornstarch, a pinch of salt and 3 cups of whole milk in a pan. Cook until thick and boiling. Whisk a small amount into 8 beaten egg yolks, return this mixture to the pan and boil for another minute. Add 3T butter and 1 T vanilla extract. Set aside. In a 2 quart pan place 1.5 cups of vanilla wafers and 2 sliced bananas, top with 1/2 the pudding mixture. Repeat. Whisk the 8 egg whites into a meringue with 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 tsp cream of tarter. Top the pudding with the meringue and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Cool for 4 hours.

Lentils

The Whole Beast nose to tail eating by Fergus Henderson
Cookbook 42, Recipe 3 (total 88)

The salted duck leg recipe suggested serving it with lentils. I love du puy lentils and thought it would be an excellent plan.

Did I like it? As a stand alone lentil recipe - not so much. It was excellent with the duck legs though.

Recipe: Heat olive oil in a pan and add 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped leek, 5 cloves of chopped garlic, and 2 chopped carrots. Sweat but do not brown. Add 1 lb of du puy lentils, an herb bundle (sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley) and water to cover. Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally for 45 minutes. Add salt, pepper and chopped parsley at the end.

Poached Salted Duck Legs

The Whole Beast nose to tail eating by Fergus Henderson
Cookbook 42, Recipe 2 (total 87)

I certainly cook more this year than I ever have before. A year ago after a overtime day of work like today I would have cooked a pizza or ate ramen. I'm definitely getting used to eating dinner at a later time.

Did I like it? Alone they would be too salty, with lentils they were great. I think it would be interesting to try these cold with crusty bread and brie.

Recipe:Phase I: Brine duck legs (using the same brine as the brisket in the post just before this one) for one week.

Phase II: In a pot combine: 1 small head of garlic, 1 whole carrot, 1 leek split down the middle, 1 stalk of celery, 1 onion peeled and halved, 1 bay leave, a small herb bundle (sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley), 6 peppercorns and the duck legs rinsed from their week of brining. Cover with water, bring to a boil, simmer 1 hour. Serve with lentils.

Earl thought he should have been invited to dinner.

Pot Roast Brisket

The Whole Beast nose to tail eating by Fergus Henderson
Cookbook 42, Recipe 1 (total 86)

Earlier in the year I cooked from Beyond Nose to Tail, the sequel to this one. The first is focused a little more on meat in general, the second is more obsessed with eating pigs feet.

I feel like I'm back in first grade this week. For a while in first grade my teacher would make me sit at a desk in the hallway to take my tests. The point was to make me pay attention to exactly what was on test without the external stresses of other people handing it in before I was done or paying attention to the clock on the wall to see exactly how fast (or slow) I was moving through the test. On Wednesday I received a low score on my homework - Why? I answered the wrong question. Today the meal was just barely on the acceptable side of too salty - Why? I didn't read unsalted chicken stock. Back to first grade - Slow down, concentrate and pay attention to the details!

Did I like it? For a cow it was excellent. This is basically a do it yourself corned beef. The braising liquid is delicious and would make some excellent gravy. Neither Stephen nor I have cooked brisket before. I thought the cut was a little fatty - Stephen said "I know - that's what makes it so great!".

Recipe:
Part one: Brine your 4lb piece of beef brisket for 5 days. Brine: Place the following in a pot: 2 cups sugar, 2 1/4 cups coarse sea salt, 12 juniper berries, 12 cloves, 12 black peppercorns, 3 bay leaves (fresh from my garden) and 4 quarts of water. Bring to a boil to dissolve salt and sugar. Let set until completely cold.

Part two: In a 4 quart roasting pot place: 2 peeled chopped carrots, 3 chopped onions, 2 chopped leeks, 2 whole heads of garlic with their skins on, 1 bundle of fresh herbs (sage, oregano, rosemary, thyme). Place the beef on top and add 1 quart UNSALTED chicken stock and 2 cups of red wine (Carmenere is great with beef). Cook at 350 covered with foil for three hours.


Note: Please take a close look at the picture below. Note the different muscles in this cut of meat. Below the line of fatty sinew is a relatively lean piece. Look at the top portion and note the fat surrounding the little rounds of meat - Fascinating.

Gateau Aux Pommes (Warm Butter Apple Ring)

Paris in a Basket Markets - The Food and the People by Nicolle Aimee Meyer & Amanda Pilar Smith
Cookbook 41, Recipe 2 (total 85)

The good apples are starting to come back into season. Prairie and Northern Spy's are still a month away but Cortland have arrived!

Did i like it? Well... I have another failure on my hands. I was a little skeptical about this recipe but thought it had the possibility of tasting fabulous.

I believe the problem isn't in the recipe itself but in the translation from metric to imperial. It's too bad they didn't include both - it would be interesting to see if that's where the problem stems from. If it had a little more flour and much less butter (note the pooling of butter in the picture) it might have held together.

Recipe: Complete flop - don't bother.

Magret de Canard au Porto (Seared Magret of Duck in a Sweet Port Sauce)

Paris in a Basket Markets - The Food and the People by Nicolle Aimee Meyer & Amanda Pilar Smith
Cookbook 41, Recipe 1 (total 84)

There is a farmer at the Farmers Market who will butcher a duck for you with a day's notice. The Saturday before last I stopped by their stall and ordered one for the next week. When I went to pick it up this past Saturday and told the son (about 11 years old) I was there to pick up my duck - he responded with "quack quack quack I like to make duck noises". There's a reason I like ordering duck from them.

A recipe for next week requires a 5 day brining of duck legs, I started that brine today and had the rest of the duck left to work with. This recipe uses up the breasts so I'm now left with skin to render the fat from and bones to make a stock with. Wee Hoo!

Did I like it? Absolutely Delicious! Tender and Crispy! One of the best duck breast entrees I've ever eaten and it's soo easy! I'll try to tone down the !'s now.

Recipe: Simmer 1/4 cup port with 1/4 cup golden raisins for 10 minutes. Heat a heavy bottomed sauce pan over high heat. Add two duck breasts (with the skin scored) skin side down and don't move them for 8 minutes. Baste with rendered fat from time to time and spoon off the excess into a bowl as they cook. Flip and cook for 1 minute on the other side. Remove to foil and season with salt and pepper. Add 8 thin apple slices to the pan and cook for 30 seconds on each side - remove to two plates. Deglaze the pan with 3/4 cup port and bring to a boil. Add the reserved port/raisin mixture and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the duck from the foil and cut into slices and place on the sliced apples. Spoon some port sauce on top and serve with mashed potatoes. YUM!

Squash and Spinach Roll

The Squash Celebrated In Recipes From Ancient Times To The Present by Arneo Nizzoli
Cookbook 40, Recipe 2 (Total 83)

I love butternut squash ravioli if it isn't made with brown sugar. Squash is usually sweet enough on it's own and it's so disappointing to order a squash dish in a restaurant only to find it tastes of brown sugar with a hint of squash. I'm always on the look out for pasta squash dishes without brown sugar or amaretto cookies.

Did I like it? The lemon zest made this dish bright and happy. The fact that it happened to taste good with my wine made it all the better. I would like to try two variations on this dish: combine both fillings and serve as a ravioli; try it with a different pasta dough and see how it affects the delicacy of the roll. Happy lesson today: Squash + lemon zest = delicious.

Recipe: Dough: Place 1.5 cups of flour on the counter, sprinkle some salt over it, make a well and add 1 egg and 1.5 T milk - mix with a fork and form into a dough. Refrigerate until ready to roll out.
Squash filling: Combine 250g of the cooked squash, zest of one lemon, 2 T grated Parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.
Spinach filling: Melt 1.5 T butter in a pan and add 5oz chopped spinach - cook until wilted. Place in a bowl and add 150g ricotta cheese, 2 T grated Parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble: Run a kitchen towel under cold water and ring out. Roll the dough out into a length that will fit into your largest pot of boiling water (my roll just squeaked by so I made a note to pay attention to that). Top with squash and then top with spinach - avoiding the edges. Roll up the pasta and roll the pasta roll in the damp kitchen towel. Secure the ends with (unflavored) floss and boil in salted water for 18 minutes. Refrigerate. Cut into 1/2 slices, brush with browned sage butter, top with grated Parmesan cheese and broil until bubbling and just slightly browned.

Squash Molds with Star Aniseed Custard

The Squash Celebrated In Recipes From Ancient Times To The Present by Arneo Nizzoli
Cookbook 40, Recipe 1 (Total 82)

I have been wanting to cook out of this cookbook since Ma purchased it for me about a year ago from Half Price.

Did I like it? I'm sad to report a complete and abject failure! It seems I can not make custard. If you've been following this blog you will know that my only other complete failure was the Norwegian Lemon Custard. When it comes to cream puff and custard - I just don't have the skills.

Original Recipe: Do not try this - It completely failed.

What do you do with a bunch of runny "Squash Molds" (which are really baked custard) and more runny "Star Aniseed Custard". Make a cocktail and call it a day! After tossing out three attempts with rum, I switched to gin and found a winning match.

Recipe: 1 Part Aviator Gin, 2 Parts runny Star Aniseed Custard and 5 parts runny squash mold. Shake with ice and serve.

Plum Cake "Tatin"

Barefoot in Paris Easy French Food You Can Make at Home by Ina Garten
Cookbook 39, Recipe 2 (Total 81)

Again, the farmers market dictates what I cook. Bob Bluebird Orchard is my favorite apple vendor at the market. They also dabble in plums and pears. I picked up some small deep blue plums that were absolutely the best plums I've ever eaten (I'm not generally a plum fan).

Thanks Ma for this cookbook~

Did I like it? One of the best desserts I've eaten in a while! Delicious! I was planning on making another this afternoon after visiting the market - unfortunately the season is over.

Recipe: Butter a pie pan and arrange 12 halved plums on the bottom cut side down. Combine 1 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup water in a pan and boil until it turns golden or reaches 360 degrees (do not stir after it reaches a boil). Pour over the plums. Beat 6T butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add 2 eggs at room temperature, one at a time. Gently mix in 1/3 cup sour cream, 1/2 tsp lemon zest and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Sift 1 cup+2T flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt together and mix into the butter mixture. Spread over the plums and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Provencal Vegetable Soup (Soupe Au Pistou)

Barefoot in Paris Easy French Food You Can Make at Home by Ina Garten
Cookbook 39, Recipe 1 (Total 80)

This past weeks posting are delayed due to a busy week. Hopefully it won't become a habit - I try to post the same day I cook.

After bringing our farmers market haul home last Saturday I looked through the remaining cookbooks to find one that would use more than one vegetable. This recipe used up five! I ate this for dinner on Sunday, lunch on Monday, dinner on Monday, lunch on Tuesday and then tossed the remaining out - I recommend making half or a fourth of the recipe.

Did I like it? If consumed within the first two hours it's great. The noodles got bloated after that and it's not as pleasant. Homemade chicken stock will make or break this recipe.

Recipe: Heat 2T of oil in a large pot and add 2 cups chopped onion and cook over low heat until translucent. Turn the heat up to medium and add 2 cups chopped leeks, 3 cups chopped potatoes, 3 cups chopped carrots, 1.5 T kosher salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes and then add 3 quarts chicken stock. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add 1/2 lb chopped green beans and 4 oz spaghetti broken into 2 inch lengths. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve and add pistou to taste. (The recipe also called for 1 tsp saffron threads - I really dislike saffron in soup so I left it out - add it with the green beans if you would like).

Pistou: Puree 4 garlic cloves, 1/4 cup tomato paste, 24 large basil leaves, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup olive oil.

Mint-Flavored Fusilli Salad

Twelve Months of Monastery Salads 200 Divine Recipes for all Seasons by Brother Victor-Antoine D'Avila-Latourrette
Cookbook 38, Recipe 2 (Total 79)

The tomato salad was for lunch and for dinner I debated between a pasta or lentil salad.

Did I like it? I wish I had chosen the lentil salad. If I were to make this salad again, I would decrease the pasta to 1/4 lb, increase the fennel to 1 full bulb and add the entire cucumber.

Recipe: Cook 1/2lb of fusilli pasta and place into a large bowl. Add: 1 chopped heirloom tomato, 1/2 peeled, seeded cucumber, 1/2 thinly sliced onion, 1/2 thinly sliced fennel bulb and 1/3 cup chopped mint. Whisk together: 3T olive oil, 2 tsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp dry mustard and add salt and pepper to taste. Dress the salad and serve.

Tomato and Olive Salad from the Lazio (Insalta di Pomodori e Olive Nere)

Twelve Months of Monastery Salads 200 Divine Recipes for all Seasons by Brother Victor-Antoine D'Avila-Latourrette
Cookbook 38, Recipe 1 (Total 78)

Eppie and Matt's cake and wedding took over the last Wednesday - Monday. WeeHoo - Congratulations Eppie & Matt!

I've been saving this cookbook for late summer salads. I purchased a bunch of veggies today and came home to see what I could put together with this cookbook.

Did I like it? It tasted like a classic tomato salad. I'm beginning to appreciate the taste of olives - for the moment I would only include two - five was a little too many for me.

Recipe: Place slices of a heirloom tomato on a plate. Top with slices of fresh mozzarella and thin slices of red onion. Top with 2-5 olives and garnish with finely chopped basil. In a bowl combine 2 T olive oil and 1 T red wine vinegar with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle on the salad to taste.

Milk with Cinnamon

My Egyptian Grandmother's Kitchen Traditional Dishes Sweet and Savory, By Magda Mehdawy
Cookbook 37, Recipe 2 (Total 77)

Tonight I sifted 12 cups of cake flour, made 4 cups of peach schnapps syrup, cut parchment rounds for six cake pans and finalized my plans for the decoration of Eppie's wedding cake. So - I went looking for an easy recipe - I found it!

Did I like it? The first half was delicious. Stop there! Don't venture into the second half of the cup.

Recipe: To 1 cup of milk add 1T cinnamon (yes 1 Tablespoon) and 1 T sugar. Bring to a boil. Serve.