Eating In

As most of you know, Minh has been cooking dinners lately… since he’s been home and I’m at work most of the day. He’s been doing a great job having dinner ready(ish) by the time I get home from work. Like earlier this week, he had all this ready for us to make spring rolls … ah.. a taste of home (sorta).

Spring rolls for dinner! (shrimp only)

I still remember how to roll these things..

He also used the Zoku for the first time since we got it. Pretty much with whatever fruit juices we had in the fridge.. orange, cranberry and tropical..with pineapple chunks.

Good for an after-run snack.. . not matter how cold it is outside..

Imagine his excitement when we got this new Ferrari in the mail! In red, too!

Our first FERRARI!!

Now we’re going to have pizza all the time! Or something like that.

“Rolling” out the dough

Toppings ready

Before going into the “oven”

The oven is ready..

Pizza in

Pizza out! Margherita

Second pizza out! Pepperoni and onions

Third pizza out! Mushrooms and onions and basil

This is how we eat pizza.. standing in the kitchen…

In the Kitchen: Sous Vide Duck Legs

Minh and I ate out a lot (A LOT!!) over the holidays.. or if we were eating in, it was big family meals (and heavy) or leftovers (also heavy). In an attempt to save money, Minh has stated to me (several times) that we need to eat in more, and eat healthier. Our first home-cooked meal of the year: Sous Vide Duck Legs, Mac’n'Cheese (semi-homemade), Potato Salad (store bought).

Sous Vide Duck Leg, Mac’n'Cheese, Potato Salad

Where are the vegetables?!?!? Why such a neutral-colored plate? Probably because I went to the gym and Minh was in charge of making sides.. he loves both mac’n'cheese and potato salad. And doesn’t understand that potatoes don’t really count as vegetables. But.. at least it’s home-cooked and we saved money. And because we sous-vide (sous-vided?) the duck legs, it was a breeze to make. After sitting in the bath all day (starting at frozen), I just gave them a quick sear in a cast iron skillet. Wish I had thought to salt them before searing, but they turned out ok in flavor, A+ for tenderness. Washed it all down with New Belgium Frambozen (which was nice and light and fruity).

New Belgium Frambozen

2011 Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap: Rocky Road Cookies!

You know what I love most about the holidays? BAKING! I don’t know why I don’t just bake cookies all year round. Maybe it’s because it’s hard to find the time and it can get pretty messy… but I do love baking. This year, I’m kicking off the (holiday) baking season with my contribution to the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011: Rocky Road Cookies!

Rocky road icecream is my ALL-TIME FAVORITE icecream flavor. I love the chocolate and the marshmallows and the nuts… basically everything about it. I know there are other rocky road cookies out there, but I thought that this one would be extra delicious because it’s adapted from Thomas Keller‘s Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe found in his Ad Hoc At Home Cookbook.

Rocky Road Cookies!!

Rocky Road Cookies (adapted from Ad Hoc At Home Cookbook by Thomas Keller) – makes about30-ish cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips (I used semisweet)
• 1 heaping cup mini marshmallows
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3/4 cup vanilla sugar (which is sugar which has been sitting in a container with a vanilla bean)
• 2 large eggs

Directions:

1. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir with a whisk (sifting is for wimps).
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat half the butter on medium speed until fairly smooth. Add both sugars and the remaining butter, and beat until well combined, then beat for a few minutes, until the mixture is light and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until the first one is incorporated before adding the next and scraping the bowl as necessary.
4. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed to combine. Mix in the chocolate, then almonds, then marshmallows. Mix just enough to incorporate – do not over mix!
5. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the dough with a spatula to be sure that the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Shape into balls using an icecream scoop or appropriately sized cookie scoop (My balls were a little more than2 1/2 tablespoons each). Chill in the refrigerator while the oven preheats (Keep the dough balls chilled while they are waiting to bake).
6. Position the oven racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.
7. Place chilled cookie dough balls on prepared cookie sheet about 2-3 inches apart.
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Let cool slightly on the cookie sheet (to firm up), then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Seal them up and give away before you eat them all!

NOTE: The dough or shaped cookies can be refrigerated, well wrapped, for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 weeks (probably longer, but that’s entirely at your own risk). Freeze shaped cookies on the baking sheets until firm, then transfer to freezer containers. (Defrost frozen cookies overnight in the refrigerator before baking.)

I packed them up nicely with a couple servings of homemade peppermint hot chocolate on a stick and sent them off to my swap matches: Big Bear’s Wife, Katie’s Cucina, and Rosy Girl Baked Goods. I hope they enjoy them!

 

Homemade Hot Chocolate (On a Stick) with Peppermint Marshmallows

There are certain flavors that signify the start of a season for me. Summer has strawberries, watermelon, and sweet corn. Fall has apples, pumpkin, and ginger spice. Winter has peppermint and hot chocolate. There are, of course, millions of flavor profiles out there that signify different things for different people, but peppermint and hot chocolate are two things that just SCREAM winter for me.

I’ve been wanting to make hot chocolate on a stick for a long time, ever since I first saw it posted for sale at The Ticket Kitchen. Sure, there are tons of other places online that sell this.. and it probably isn’t a “new” idea.. but it’s a genius ideas for the holidays. What’s a better gift than a nice new mug and some hot chocolate on a stick. Pair that with some amazing marshmallows, a fire and a cozy blanket, and you’ve got yourself a pretty nice wintry evening.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick from The Ticket Kitchen - Service for 1, $3.95

But.. $3.95 plus shipping and handling is a little pricey for one steamy mug of hot chocolate with no marshmallows. Of course, it’s simple enough to make on your own (both the hot chocolate and the marshmallows). I found a simple recipe for hot chocolate on a stick from King Arthur Flour and used a cubed ice tray to make my own hot chocolate on a stick. Paired with some homemade peppermint marshmallows (used Alton Brown‘s marshmallow recipe, but replaced the vanilla extract with peppermint extract and swirl in a little bit of red food coloring at the end) and I was good to go for small Christmas presents.

Homemade Peppermint Hot Chocolate on a Stick!

Giving Thanks 2011

This year was the first year having Thanksgiving dinner in my new home(ish – “ish” because it’s not really where I “live”.. long story). This is also our first Thanksgiving dinner with TURDUCKEN!!! I have to admit, that I wasn’t ambitious enough to make the turducken myself from scratch.. all that bird de-boning, stuffing making, bird tying-up, etc. etc. Some day, though, I will make one of these from scratch.

Last year, we were able to make a completely GLUTEN-FREE Thanksgiving. This year, because of the turducken, we weren’t able to succeed in that regard (brown rice and cornbread stuffing were already included with the turducken). But all the sides were kept strictly gluten free.

Tur-duck-hen!

The Menu for an ALMOST Gluten-Free Thanksgiving

Creole-Style Tur-Duc-Hen (from Big Easy Foods at Costco.com) with Roasted Root Veggies
Gluten-Free Dressing (my own recipe with mild italian sausage, leeks, mushroom medley, walnuts, apples)
Creamy Mashed Potatoes (made in the slow-cooker)
Brussel Sprouts with Maple Butter Pecans (recipe from The Family Kitchen)
Sauteed Green Beans with Bacon and Pine Nuts (my own recipe)
Cranberry Sauce (my own recipe)
Corn (from frozen.. nuked with butter and garlic salt.. it’s a dinner staple at my house)
Classic Gravy (from pan drippings and gluten-free)
Apple-Pear-Cranberry Crumble (modified from Epicurious)

Makeshift prep table

Apple-Pear-Cranberry Crumble.. baked and cooling on the counter

Tur-duck-hen.. fresh from the oven

Tur-duck-hen… all sliced up and ready to eat!

A sink-full of dishes

Thanksgiving dishes aftermath…

I LOVE my dishwasher!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Recipe: Spätzle and Sausage + a trip to Old World Village

Back in our first trip to Seattle, Minh and I stumbled across a German restaurant on the edge of town. I can’t remember what it was called or where exactly it was located.. all I really remember from that day was being extremely tired (from a flight, only a few hours of sleep in the car, an early hike at the base of Mount Rainier, and lots of driving around and arguing with Minh… I was pretty cranky)…. and I vaguely remember our meal. And this was when I first discovered that Minh (and I) was IN LOVE with beer, sausage… and spätzle!!!

For a long time, we didn’t know what to call this dish because it came as a side on our sausage plate, and we just referred to it as the cheesy side. Minh SWORE that it was some sort of mac’n'cheese, while I thought it was more like a doughy “rice” with cheese. Eventually, we determined that it was spätzle, and we went on a mission to find some nearby.

Which brings us to… OLD WORLD VILLAGE in Huntington Beach. I’ve only been to Old World a handful of times, but we new that there was supposed to be a “good” German market and deli there, so we stopped by in search of good sausage. Imagine our delight when we found out that they were selling spätzle! The woman who helped us (the owner maybe), was a little bit weirded out by the fact that we wanted to buy a pound to take home (since they were serving it in the dining area), but she was very helpful in telling us how to prepare it at home. It came already boiled, so we just had to saute it with some butter and melt some cheese into it. We also bought a pound of dry “hot’n'spicy” sausage and headed home to make dinner.

Hot'n'Spicy SAUSAGE!!! (dry and cooked)

Delicious grated mix of cheeses...

Saute that spätzle in HOT BUTTER!!!

It turned out pretty good… I went a little crazy with the butter, so it was a bit “greasier” than perfect, but the balance of the cheese and the spice of the sausage made it a pretty good dinner for two. We even had some German beer to round out the meal.

Dinner and a movie...

Recipe: Spaghetti Squash “Lasagna”

I LOVE VEGETABLES! The only vegetables that I don’t like are ones with bitter tastes (bitter melon.. which is from the squash family, I think).. and funky textures (like spongey eggplant.. gross). Other than that (but I’m sure there are more).. I’ll eat all vegetables, at least once. And I love them all different ways: raw, steamed, sauteed, braised, roasted, fried, … you get the picture. Minh LOVES PASTA! He could eat pasta and Mexican food (not together) every day for the rest of his life. Anni loves food, but has that danged Celiac’s. So… imagine my delight a year or so ago when I discovered SPAGHETTI SQUASH!! It’s like a match made in heaven (just like me and Minh… haha.. cheesy). The first time I made spaghetti squash, it was not awesome. We cooked it in the microwave (not knowing how else to quickly steam it), and it ended up a mush. Then, Minh and I had an AWE-MAZING spaghetti squash dish at Haven Gastropub.. and decided that we need to give this vegetable another try.. which is where we get the following..

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna!!!

Spaghetti Squash “Lasagna”
Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

1 medium sized spaghetti squash
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1 28-oz can stewed tomatoes
1 tsp Italian Season or Herbes de Provence
1 lb mild or hot Italian Sausage
1 med onion, diced
6 oz (or so) sliced salami
12 oz shredded mozarella

Step by Step

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out seeds and stringy stuff. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Coat the bottom of a foil-lined baking sheet with olive oil. Bake squash, cut side down, until tender (about 40 minutes).
4. Meanwhile, brown meat and onions in a large skillet.
5. Once meat is browned, add stewed tomatoes and seasoning. Simmer until thickened, then remove from heat
6. Once squash is cooked (can be easily pierced by a knife), remove from oven and let cool slight (so you can handle it).
7. With a fork, shred the squash meat into “spaghetti” strands inside the shell.
8. Layer ingredients in a buttered baking dish: Half the spaghetti squash, half the salami, half the meat sauce, half the cheese.. then repeat (2 sets of layers total).
9. Bake in the oven until bubbly and top is brown (about 25 minutes).Let cool slightly before serving.

Here are some (blurry.. sorry) shots of the process…

Roasted and shreded Spaghetti Squash

First layer.. spaghetti squash

Second layer.. salami

Third layer… meat sauce

Fourth layer … cheese… mmmm… gooey…

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna!!!

If you’re like me.. and tend to bake things in small baking dishes (7×11), then you’ll need two.. and only one set of layers will fit into each baking dish. But.. if you’re smart and use a big baking dish (9×13) then it should all fit into one with 2 sets of layers. I ended up making two littles ones, but that worked out will, becuase Minh, Anni and I devoured the first one and a little bit of the second.

Recipe: Baked Mac’n'Cheese

This week, we revived the tradition with Baked Mac’n'Cheese and The American, starring George Clooney. I got the general recipe for the baked mac’n'cheese from Cooking For Engineer, but made some modifications based on what I had on hand and the taste that I was going for. But, basically, you take a basic bechamel sauce, add a mixture of shredded cheese, mix in your cooked macaroni, top with a breadcrumb mixture and bake in the oven until bubbly, brown, and crispy. I went with mostly Monterrey Jack, but also went a little nuts on cheese from Whole Foods…. used a little Young Emmi Gruyere and Unie Kaas Robusto in the cheese mixture (I was also looking for Fontina, but couldn’t find any at Whole Foods) and topped it off with Reggianito from Argentina with the bread crumbs. We also added some Apple Honey Smoked Bacon that was DELICIOUS!!! I made sure to have cheese leftover for nibbling (and some future recipes). I used the nutmeg and mustard that was called for in the recipe, but not really sure if it did anything for the dish. I think next time I’ll go with some smoked paprika or cayenne instead (we omitted the hot sauce since we couldnt’ find any at Minh’s house). We also ran out of butter, so were unable to mix the breadcrumb mixture with butter for that reallly crunchy top, but it didn’t hurt the dish.

Baked Mac’n'Cheese
Adapted from Cooking for Engineers

Ingredients

4 T unsalted butter
4 T AP flour
3 12-oz cans of evaporated milk
1/2 t nutmeg
1 t ground mustard
salt and pepper
12 oz shredded Monterey Jack
1/2 cup(ish) shredded gruyere (or other cheese of your choice)
1/2 cup(ish) shredded Unie Kaas Robusto (or other cheese of your choice)
1 lb elbow macaroni (or other shaped pasta)
2/3 lb (or more) bacon (we used Apple Honey Smoked)
grated Reggianito (or parmesan)
1/2 c breadcrumbs

Step by Step

1. Cook your pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water, until al dente. Drain and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, brown bacon. Drain on a paper-towel lined plate, then coarsely chop.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F.
4. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat until foaming. Add flour and stir until well mixed.
5. Slowly add evaporated milk , stirring or whisking constantly to prevent lumps.
6. Add seasoning. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the bechamel sauce has thickened (coats back of spoon).
7. Remove from heat. Stir in your shredded cheese and stir until melted.
8. Add pasta and bacon. Stir until well coated.
9. Transfer pasta-cheese mixture into a baking dish (1 9×13 or 2 7×11). Top with grated Reggianito (or parmesan) and breadcrumbs.
10. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

We made ours in two 7×11 baking dishes since it was only the two of us eating (and we weren’t going to get anywhere close to finishing a 9×13 baking dish). So we only baked 1 and saved the other for a later time (dinner with Michele on Friday). To help it keep better, we didn’t add the bacon until we transferred the mixture into the baking dish, and then we only added the bacon to one dish (saved the extra bacon on the side for the other). On the spare, we left the breadcrumb topping off, since this should be added right before baking… just cover and let cool before sticking in the fridge (or freezer).

The whole thing was delicious and creamy. It had a light flavor since it was mostly Monterey Jack cheese, but felt very heavy because of the creamy sauce. The bacon added a salty, sweet crunch that was very pleasant. Next time, I think I’ll add more fo the Robusto to give it a little more flavor.

Recipe: Roasted Pork Loin with Pear Sauce

Pork roast is one of those dishes that will probably take me YEARS to perfect. The first time I made a pork roast was (again) back in DC (where most of my culinary firsts occurred… you can read more about that adventure at my old blog). To my recollection.. it ended up dry. Probably a result of sitting in the oven for too long. As it would turn out, most of the time the pork roast comes out dry or not cooked enough… where it goes back into the oven and then comes out dry. Same with pork chops most of the time. Pork just seems to be difficult to cook unless you’re braising or.. braising?

Tried my hand again at a pork roast for Sunday night dinner, since I was craving pork, and I think it turned out pretty good. I used a basic pork roast recipe from Mark Bittman‘s How to Cook Everything, but had to double it since the smallest pork loin roast at the store was over 4 pounds. The roast came with one of those pop tabs that’s supposed to pop out when the roast is done, but apparently it didn’t work.. because the roast was done, and the pop tab was not popped. Luckily for me, the roast had just barely passed 165°F, which is more than I wanted, but still not too well-done.

The roast was a tad on the dry side, but the pear sauce I made from the drippings helped remedy that. And the meal was served with a side of herb roasted new potatoes. Should have added some green vegetables in there somewhere for some color, but we didn’t have anything on hand.

Recipe: Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Pork Loin with Pear Sauce
Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything

Ingredients

1 boneless pork loin roast (4-ish pounds), tied
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons minced garlic
salt and pepper
1 quart (ish) chicken stock or dry white wine or both
2 tablepoons butter
4 pears (d’anjou or bartlett or your preference), peeled, cored and sliced (not too thin)

Step-by-Step

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F with the rack a little below center
2. Since the roast is already tied, you’ve got the first step done. If it’s not tied, you’ll need to tie it up into a little log with some kitchen twine.
3. Season the roast with salt and pepper (liberally).
4. In a small bowl, mix the rosemary, cayenne, sugar and garlic. Generously rub all over your roast (give it a good massage to make sure it all sticks).
5. Place your seasoned roast on a rack in your roasting pan and stick it in the oven. Roast undisturbed for 20 minutes (so it gets a good brown crust).
6. After 20ish minutes, pour about 1/2 cup of chicken stock or wine over your roast (be careful, because it will sizzle A LOT) and turn the oven temp down to 325°F.
7. Continue to roast and baste with wine/stock every 15ish minutes until the roast is done (internal temperature has reached 160°F).
8. Once the roast is cooked through, remove to a warmed plate and tent with foil.
9. Place your roasting pan over two burners (or one if it doesn’t fit over two) and pour about 1/2 cup of chicken stock into the pan. Using a wooden spoon, deglaze the pan, scraping up any stuck brown bits of goodness from the bottom. Pour the drippings and deglazing-goodness into a medium deep-walled pan or pot (big enough to hold your sliced pears comfortably).
10. Simmer over medium heat until the liquid has reduced a bit. Add butter until melted.
11. Add sliced pears to the pan and stir to coat the pears with the liquid. Simmer over med-low heat until pears have softened.
12. Slice the roast and serve with pear sauce.

The entire recipe took about an hour and a half to prepare, but should reallytake a little less if I weren’t waiting for that danged pop-up button. I did the prep for the pears and potatoes while the pork was in the oven. Oh.. and to add to my weekend battle scars, I burned myself while taking the roast out of the oven to baste. My right hand just barely touched some metal at the top of my oven, and left a nice 1″-long burn. Mom covered it with fresh aloe and told me to leave it overnight. It doesn’t hurt, but will leave a nice scar … which will be the second burn scar on my right hand to remind me to be more careful when pulling things out of the oven.

Winter is a good time for.. STEW

This week, Smitten Kitchen posted a delicious looking Chard and White Bean Stew (also their first post of the new year!). Looking at the pictures, two thought came to mind: (1) I want to eat that NOW!!! and (2) How can I make it meaty?

Those two thoughts were both fulfilled with my own try at chard and white bean stew.

I didn’t make very many changes to the recipe posted by Smitten Kitchen.. but I did make some:

• Fried up about 6 oz of bacon (coarsely chopped). Used about 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings and 2 tablespoons of butter to saute the veggies.
• Used chicken stock instead of vegetable stock since I couldn’t find veggie stock at the store (seriously? yes.. seriously)
• Omitted the sherry vinegar, but sprinkled shredded Monterey Jack cheese over the stew. Served with toasted sourdough (didn’t have enough time to poach eggs).

The whole thing turned out DELICIOUS!!! as expected. And it was super easy, granted it did take a bit of time to prepare. I will definitely be making this stew again. And probably making extra to store for a rainy day (if it lasts). With the ingredients listed below, I made enough stew for my family of five.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lb white swiss chard – ribs and stems removed
• 6 oz bacon, chopped
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 celery ribs
• 3 medium sized carrots
• 3 large shallots
• 2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic (from a jar)
• 1 cup Chardonnay
• 2 15 oz. cans white beans – drained and rinsed
• 1 cup pureed tomatoes
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf (dried or fresh)
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• salt and pepper
• shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Recipe:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch swiss chard for just a minute, then remove. Drain of as much liquid as possible. When cool enough to handle, coarsely chop.
2. While waiting for the water to boil, coarsely chop all your vegetables to about the same size (approximately a dice.. good size for stew).
3. Dry pot and return to heat. Brown bacon until crispy. Remove to a papertowel-lined plate with a slotted spoon. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of bacon grease.
4. Add 2 tablespoon butter to grease and melt. Add carrots, celery, shallots, and garlic. Cook until onion is translucent and vegetables begin to soften (about 10 – 15 minutes).
5. Once vegetables have cooked, add wine to pot. Stir vegetables, scraping up brown bits from bottom of pan. Simmer until wine has reduced by at least half.
6. Add remaining ingredients (except cheese) to the pot and stir to combine. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes (go take a shower if someone else is there to watch the pot.. which is what I did).
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove thyme and bay leaf before serving.
8. Serving in shallow bowls with a generous sprinkling of Monterey Jack cheese and toasted, buttered sourdough.

Can’t wait to make this again. It was SO GOOD!!!