Entries from March 2009
We didn’t make it to the grocery store this weekend, so I worked with what we had. I found some frozen tilapia, a jar of Pickled Beets and decided to whip up some polenta. Recently I read an article on Cook’s Illustrated that compared various white wines to satisfy the “dry white wine” ingredient you often find in recipes. Sauvignon Blanc came out on top and Dry Vermouth was second. They specifically recommend Gallo. Since Dry Vermouth is a fortified wine and can be kept on the self for months, the convenience factor sold me on giving it a try. I used it in the sauce and found the Vermouth worked fine, although given my druthers, I would use a wine. The Vermouth seemed a bit one dimensional and not quite as acidic as I’d liked, but for everyday cooking Vermouth will work fine. And for $6.00 a bottle, quite economical. The beets were a store bought brand I spiced up a bit. The rosemary polenta, I have written about making it before.
The fish and sauce
Ingredients:
- 2 pieces of tilapia
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 shallot or 2 tablespoons onion, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2/3 cup dry vermouth, or dry white wine
- 1 cup fish stock or chicken stock
Directions:
Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Salt and pepper both sides of tilapia. In an oven proof pan, over medium heat, cook the shallot until translucent in 1/2 tablespoon butter. Add garlic until it’s released it’s aroma, about a minute. Turn the heat up to high and add the dry white wine or vermouth, cook for one minute and add the stock. There should be enough liquid to reach at least half way up the sides of the fish. Bring to a simmer, cover and put in the oven. The fish should be cooked until translucent, depending on the size of the fish, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Once the fish is done transfer it from the liquid to aluminum foil, wrap and cover with a towel to keep warm.
Put the pan back on the burner, on high, and reduce the liquid to 3/4 of what it was. Remove from heat and mount with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of butter.
The beets
Ingredients:
- 1 jar of pickled beets
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1/2 cup orange juice
Directions:
Drain beet juice into a sauce pan. Add ginger and orange juice and reduce by half. Add beets to the reduced liquid and warm through.
By Kenton
Categories: Fish Dishes
Tagged: beets, cooking, fish, food, poach, polenta, sauce, tilapia
Cranberry Mango Granola
Have you ever noticed how small the boxes of granola are in the store? I love granola but it seems like a person only gets a couple of bowls per box. Here’s a granola recipe that is easy and you can make as much as you want.
3 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. wheat germ
1/2 c. chopped almonds
1/3 c. honey
1/3 c. orange juice
Grated orange peel from one medium orange
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. dried mango
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Toast wheat germ on low heat. Mix with oatmeal and almonds.
Stir honey, orange juice, orange peel and cinnamon together in a saucepan. Heat until boiling.
Pour over oatmeal mixture and stir until coated.
Pour onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
Add dried fruit to partially cooked granola. Bake for another 10 minutes or until light brown.
Categories: Breakfast · recipes
Tagged: cereal, cranberry, food, granola
This soup was mostly about getting rid of leftovers in the refrigerator. I had homemade vegetable stock and braised beef shank sauce in the fridge. Also a few vegetables that needed to be used up. I decided to break out the neck bones I had purchased the other day for $1.69 a pound. I think it was about 6 pounds total. Those 6 pounds of neck bones yielded about 4-5 cups of meat. I had never cooked with neck bones before but I would again. There is more cartilage and connective tissues with this cut than I’ve seen in others. But most of it melts away and can be separated from the meat if you so desire. I can see how many would find this off putting, but the combination of meat, bone and connective tissue makes a very rich, flavorful broth. We really enjoyed this soup, and it just kept getting better as the days went by. I didn’t use a recipe for this soup, just whinged it.
Start by searing the meat on the neck bones in batches. They are irregularly shaped so you need to move them a few times to sear each side. Deglaze the stock pot with about a cup of red wine and put the neck bones back into the pot. If you have extra stock or sauce to add to the pot later, then just cover bones with water. If you don’t have liquids to add later, then you’ll need to use more water initially to make up the difference. Add 4-6 cloves of chopped garlic, a bouquet garni of 2-3 bay leaves, 10 pepper corns and a few sprigs of thyme. Simmer until meat begins falling off the bone, 2-3 hours. While the meat is cooking, cut your vegetables into bite size pieces. Use what vegetables you have. I used a mirepoix, 2 parts onion, 1 part carrot and 1 part celery. Approximately 4 cups onion, 2 cups carrot and 2 cups celery. I also cut up approximately 4 cups of fingerling potatoes. Once the meat is done, drain the whole works though a colander, saving the liquid. Pull the meat bones out and lay on a cookie sheet to cool. Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth, back into your stock pot. The broth may have little bits of grit from the neck bones, so don’t bother straining the last cup or so of the liquid. Once the meat has cooled enough to pull with your hands, separate meat from the bone. Add the meat and vegetables to the broth. If you have leftover stock or meat sauce, now is the time to add. Bring the works to a gentle simmer, adjust acidity by adding wine to taste. Simmer until the vegetables are done to your liking. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
By Kenton
Categories: Beef Dishes · Economy Food · Soup
Tagged: beef bones, cooking, economical food, food, neck bones
I’m not sure what inspired these bars. Maybe it was the two bags of carob chips in the cupboard. Or maybe it was the bag of dried cherries next to the carob chips. Either way this trio plays very nicely together.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2 c. flour
1 c. brown sugar
2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. cloves
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. salt
1 c. butter (2 sticks cut into tablespoon sized pieces
1 beaten egg
1 t. vanilla
1/3 c. dried cherries
1/3 c. carob chips
1/3 c. chopped walnuts
Mix the first six ingredients. With a hand mixer set at medium speed, blend a few pieces of butter in at a time into the dry ingredients. Crumbs should look like lentils.
With a spoon or fork, mix in the egg and vanilla. Add the cherries, carob chips and walnuts.
Spread into a greased 10X5 pan. Bake for 30 minutes.
Categories: Dessert Bars
Tagged: carob, cooking, desserts, food
Peach Cornbread
Peach Cornbread Dessert
Kent invented this dish a couple years ago when he was given a jar of home canned peaches. Not only is it delicious, but it is a quick dessert you can put together in no time.
It’s not completely from scratch as it uses Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix. To be honest, I’ve always had a thing for Jiffy mixes. They’re economical and have a good flavor.
1 T. melted butter
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
I can sliced peaches in a light syrup, drained
2 Jiffy Corn Muffin mix packages
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine the first three ingredients and stir mixture into the peaches.
Mix the corn muffin mixes together following the directions on the box.
Put 3/4 of the corn muffin batter in a greased pan. I used a cast iron skillet.
Spoon peaches onto batter leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge. Dab the remaining batter on top of the peaches.
Bake for 20-23 minutes.
Categories: Breads · recipes
Tagged: cooking, cornbread, food, peaches
I remember a couple years ago watching Anthony Bourdain’s show, No Reservations, and being repulsed by the guy. I found him cocky, irritating and at times the show seemed to go nowhere. So when I would see him on, I’d turn the channel. I don’t know when it happened or how it happened, but I started liking the guy. I started liking his show. Maybe it’s like the first time you see a new model of car, and you think it’s ugly. Sometime later you find yourself dreaming about buying one. At any rate I decided to read his book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures In The Culinary Underbelly. I’m glad I did. This book chronicles Bourdain’s relationship with food from the time he was a kid to becoming chef at Les Halles. It’s well written, interesting, funny and as the subtitle states, one gets a look at the “culinary underbelly” from Bourdain’s perspective. Bourdain started out in a privileged family but struck out on his own, landed a job as a dishwasher to pay bills, and his culinary career was born. From there you get to see both his humiliations and triumphs as he works his way up. He doesn’t seem to pull any punches, he lays it all out, the drugs, the hard times and the fun he had. I think just about anyone would find this a good read, but if you’re interested in what it’s like working in a professional kitchens, I think you’ll like it a lot. I’m going to give this book a 5 out of 5 stars. I really can’t think of anything I didn’t like about it.
By Kenton
Categories: Book Reviews
Tagged: Anthony Bourdain, book review, cooking, food
Today’s post is about flops. Totally. As in the bread falling completely apart.
One of the great things about rhubarb is that you can quickly chop it up and pop it into the freezer for baking later. In a few months, fresh rhubarb will be available. So I thought I would finish up the rhubarb in the freezer. Rhubarb bread is one of my favorites so you’d think I’d pay more attention while putting it together.
Unfortunately I forgot the egg. Egg is very important. According to Darra Goldstein in the Baking Boot Camp, eggs are necessary for stability (2007). Eggs work with flour to add structure. During the baking process the two ingredients react to each other and solidify the batter for its final form. Without eggs, everything falls apart. As evidenced by the photograph.
The flavor is still pretty good. I’m thinking of getting some vanilla ice cream and crumbling my learning experience on top.
Rhubarb Bread
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. oil
1 egg
1 c. buttermilk
1 t. salt
1 t. soda
1 t. cinnamon
2 c. flour
2 c. rhubarb
Combine all the ingredients. Pour into two greased loaf pans.
Mix
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 T. butter
Melt butter, mix in sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture on top of batter.
Bake for 60 minutes
Goldstein, D. (2007). Baking boot camp: Five days of basic training at the Culinary Institute of America. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Categories: Breads · Cooking Techniques
Tagged: cooking, food, rhubarb, rhubarb bread
This cheese is of Lebanese origin and the first cheese I’ve made. But before describing it, I need to explain the picture. I was cooking another dish which called for wine, and there was an open bottle next to me for that. When I reached for the olive oil to drizzle over the cheese, I ended up with a wine bottle in my hand. That’s what gives the white cheese the reddish tint. The circular gash in the top was my attempt to create a well for the olive oil. The cheese was harder than I expected and instead of giving under the spoon, it started to break apart. I should have just scooped a portion out to make the well, but instead I tried pushing with the spoon. Rest assured, the taste is much better than it looks.
The cheese was like a sponge and soaked up all the wine and olive oil almost immediately. The texture is hard to describe. It was both dry and soft at the same time. Soft enough to cut with a cracker, but not soft enough to dip into the cheese with a cracker. It was crumbly but not as crumbly as a feta. On the palate the texture was somewhat dry, sticking to the mouth, kind of like peanut butter would. The taste was clean, fresh, tart, tangy and felt alive on the tongue. There was just a hint of the yogurt it was made from, but I’m not convinced if you didn’t know what it was made from, you would be able to pick up on that. It paired well with the wheat garlic crackers we used to eat it with and the kalamata olives. Once you start eating this cheese, it’s hard to stop. The cheese would work well with onions, garlic and herbs of about any kind.
The cheese was easy to make. I followed the instructions on Fankhauser’s site. I used a quart of the yogurt I made the other day. Mixed in 1 teaspoon of salt, wrapped it in a bandanna, and hung it for nearly 24 hours. The only thing I did differently from Frankhauser’s instructions, was I gave it a gentle squeeze near the end, to speed up the draining process. I’m guessing that’s why the cheese was as dry as it was. Next time I’ll try just hanging it for 24 hours to see what the consistency is like. Pressing this cheese a bit would be interesting as well.
By Kenton
Categories: Cheese
Tagged: Cheese, food, homemade
Cottage Cheese Biscuits
I’m on a Lee Bailey roll. His cookbooks are fun to read and the recipes are fun to try. He really seems to get true pleasure from food. Today’s biscuits are from The Way I Cook.
This week I was looking through the frig and trying to use some stuff up to make space for more stuff. My eyes spied the cottage cheese. If anyone had a good recipe for cottage cheese, I knew it would be Lee Bailey and he didn’t let me down. Not only are these flavorful but they are quick to put together.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Mix
2 c. flour
1 t. salt
2 1/2 t. baking soda
Cut 6 T of butter into flour mixture
Stir in 1 1/2 c. cottage cheee
Drop balls of dough (heaping tablespoon) onto baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes
Categories: Breads · recipes
Tagged: biscuits, cooking, cottage cheese, food
For some reason I decided that learning to make cheese was a good thing to do. During my research I came across an excellent resource, Fankhauser’s Cheese Page. On his site he has a Beginning Cheese Making Course which starts with making yogurt and progresses to blue cheese. I followed Dr. Fankhauser’s instructions for making yogurt, pretty much to the tee, so I’m not going to repeat the instructions here.
I eat a little over a quart of yogurt a week. Primarily I eat it in the morning, before I leave for work, as a quick breakfast. I started wondering about the cost savings of making my own yogurt, roughly speaking I came up with $104.00 a year. I purchased Dannon plain All Natural Nonfat Yogurt as a starter, on sale for $2.50. The gallon of milk I used was $2.34 from Costco. The recipe makes 4 quarts and 8oz of yogurt. Since the yogurt I bought as starter was on sale and we sometimes pay $3.00 a quart for yogurt I set the price for my estimation at $2.75. Eating 1 quart a week that comes to $143.00 a year. From what I understand you can use the yogurt you make as a culture a couple times, before needing to resort to purchasing store bought yogurt. So only one third of the time is it necessary to purchase a starter; the rest of the time one is just buying milk. So 4 months of starter, plus milk comes to $20.36. The rest of the year total cost is $18.72. So total expenditure for making yogurt is $39.09 a year. That’s a savings of about $104.00 a year. This is a rough estimate, I didn’t figure in electricity, gasoline costs, the 8oz bits of yogurt, etc., but depending on how much yogurt you eat, making your own could really save a nice chunk of change. Time wise it took me two hours, from assembling the supplies to incubation. I’m pretty sure I can get that time down to one hour. So for one hours of work a month, I can save $104.00 a year.
Making the yogurt was quite easy. The only part I found a little tricky, was getting the water for incubating ready, at the same time the milk had cooled enough to add the inoculate. You want the milk to cool to 122 degrees, around the time the water for incubating is 130 degrees. This is how I handled it. Once I had pulled the milk off the stove and had it cooling in cold water, I put a gallon of hot tap water into a pot, covered and brought the temperature to 140 degrees; then pulled the pot off the heat, leaving it covered. At the same time I was changing out the cold water as it warmed from the hot milk. When the milk hit 122 degrees, I added the inoculate, filled the quart jars, and placed in the cooler. I turned to the incubation water which was still close to 140 degrees, I stirred cold water in 1/2 cup at a time until the temperature had dropped to 130 degrees.
So what is the yogurt like? I did a taste comparison between the homemade yogurt and the Dannon. The difference was pretty negligible. The homemade was a bit more acidic, a sharper taste. The Dannon seemed a bit more mellow. The texture was different, the Dannon containing pectin, was thicker. I have no problem with the texture of the homemade yogurt, which is a little looser. For those that do, by adding powdered milk a thicker yogurt can be made. Overall I found the homemade yogurt to be tasty and fun to make. I’m looking forward to experimenting with making yogurt with different types of milk.
By Kenton
Categories: Economy Food · Yogurt
Tagged: dairy, food, homemade yogurt, saving money
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