Recipe: Cauliflower and Goat Cheese Souffles

Cauliflower and Goat Cheese Souffles
Saveur, Issue #172, p. 32
5 stars

What to do with extra cauliflower in the fridge?  Make souffles, of course!

This was actually one of the easiest souffle recipes I've made so far in my cooking experience.  I'll have to test the recipe using other ingredients (a different vegetable and cheese).

It's a short ingredient list:  cauliflower florets, plain goat cheese, eggs, nutmeg, parmesan, butter, salt and pepper.

In this recipe, the cauliflower is boiled, drained and then pureed.

I just loved this recipe and can't wait to make it again.

Recipe: Dirt Bombs

Dirt Bombs
Bon Appetit Magazine, May 2014, p. 20
4 stars

This recipe was in the 'r.s.v.p.' section of Bon Appetit where readers request their favorite restaurant recipes.  This one is from Bantam Bread Bakery in Bantam, CT and is described as a 'cinnamon-sugar doughnut in muffin form.'

I had to try making these.

I read the reviews, and they were mixed so I wasn't sure how these were going to turn out.  They turned out great; people at work asked for the recipe!  What I really like about it is the density of the cake -- it's like a cake doughnut.

Tips:

• One change I made to the recipe based on the reviews I read:  Add at least a teaspoon of vanilla to the batter.
• Dipping the tops of the muffins in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar didn't work well for me.  Instead, I brushed the tops with the butter and then sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar.
• They're best when served warm so reheat them and serve with coffee -- yum.

Recipe: Quinoa Balls with Cauliflower and Cheese

Quinoa Balls with Cauliflower and Cheese
Food and Wine Magazine, February 2015, p. 100
4.5 stars

Strange sounding, recipe, I know.  But really nice flavor and easy to make!  The photo above isn't the best -- I forgot to take a photo when I originally made them, so this is what they look like reheated.

I would make these as an hors d'oeuvres for people who aren't picky and enjoy trying new things ~ and people who like quinoa and hummus, for example.  It's not the typical appetizer.  One note is that your place will smell like scallion and garlic when these bake, but the smell of those ingredients is stronger than the taste of them.

Here is the ingredient list:  quinoa, cauliflower, halloumi cheese*, scallions, chickpea flour, garlic, egg, sea salt, pepper, nutmeg, baking soda, lemon juice.

*Halloumi cheese can be found at specialty grocery or cheese shops.

Recipe: Christina Tosi's Caramel Apple & Pretzel Pie

Caramel Apple & Pretzel Pie
People Magazine, Jan 26, 2015, p. 106
4 stars

I saw this recipe from Christina Tosi (chef and founder of Milk Bar) in People Magazine.  I was shocked that the recipe calls for a can of apple pie filling, but I suppose she was trying to simplify this recipe for the masses.  For an easy homemade dessert to take to a cookout, I'd make this again.  I'd consider using caramel instead of butterscotch (or maybe both!) for the topping.

Ingredients:

• Crust:  pretzel crumbs, graham cracker crumbs, dark brown sugar, kosher salt, heavy cream
• Filling:  butter, white chocolate chips, heavy cream, vanilla extract, egg yolk, flour, kosher salt, canned apple pie filling
• Topping:  butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips

Recipe: Marcus Samuelsson's Black-Bottom Peanut Pie

Crust with the chocolate filling

Mixing the peanut part of the filling

Black-Bottom Peanut Pie (Marcus Samuelsson recipe)

Food and Wine Magazine, Nov 2014, p. 82

5 stars

This is 'Samuelsson's ode to his favorite candy bar, Snickers.' And it tastes just like a Snickers bar!

Super easy recipe.  Make it for the Snickers-lover in your life.

Ingredients:

• Crust:  butter, sugar, vanilla wafer cookies, vanilla beans
• Filling:  bittersweet chocolate, heavy cream, sugar, light corn syrup, butter, molasses, kosher salt, eggs, unsalted roasted peanuts

I used a 9 inch pie plate (instead of a 10 inch plate) and was able to make another portion in a standard loaf pan (extras for us!).

Recipe: Beef Bourguignonne Pot Pie

Beef Bourguignonne Pot Pie
Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2015, p. 70
5 stars

Really delicious!  Not a hard recipe but takes a long time to make from start to finish.

Few notes/tips:

• Allot about 4 hours to make this dish
• Use 1/4 cup of flour instead of 1/2 cup
• It's not a pretty dish once you cut into it (all brown on the inside!) so while it's delicious, I might not serve this at a dinner party
• Make sure to remove the bay leaf and star anise -- this is not mentioned in the recipe
• I'd add another carrot or two next time

Recipe: S'mores Cupcakes (or S'mores Dessert)

 

Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow

MarthaStewart.com

5 stars

Marshmallow Frosting

Chow.com or MarthaStewart.com

5 stars

Made these for the first time -- GREAT recipe!  Found it online on marthastewart.com;  it's courtesy of Jennifer Shea, owner of Trophy Cupcakes.

Notes/Tips:

• The cake itself isn't super sweet which is good because all of the other ingredients add the sweetness.  (So, I wouldn't actually use the cake recipe for cake alone.)
• Next time, I may add a little less butter to the graham cracker crust.
• Adding the boiling water to the batter does make the batter very watery, but that's ok!
• For some of the cupcakes, I added some sea salt and a pinch of chipotle chile powder -- was delicious and gave an added dimension like the Spicy, Smoky S'mores Bars that I make.
• Don't overfill the cupcakes liners.  They will rise and then go over the rim and be hard to remove from the muffin tin (esp. since the cake is so moist/sticky).
• For the marshmallow fluff, make it the DAY-OF serving.  It will become really soft (soft peaks) and not be very stiff.  You cannot re-whip the the frosting.
• Beware of the paper cupcake liners catching fire when torching/toasting the marshmallow.
• As you can see above, I made a dessert (instead of cupcakes) using the recipe as well.

The Best Chocolates I've Ever Had: Kate Weiser

Need a gift for a chocolate lover or a hostess gift -- or a gift for yours truly?  Note that I'm not being paid to say this . . .  Kate Weiser's chocolates are the best and most beautiful chocolates I've ever had.

I was a Vosges Chocolate fan and really like Christopher Elbow's chocolates as well, but forget them;  Kate Weiser's beats them all by a LONG SHOT.  The flavors are incredible (fresh ingredients!), and they're so beautiful and artistic.  The packaging is gorgeous as well.  It is truly artisan chocolate to the highest degree.

In some of the pieces, she cracks a corner so you can see an ingredient like basil in her Strawberry Basil chocolate, peeking from underneath the chocolate shell.

I can't wait to see what other flavors she comes up with.

Her current flavors include:

• Strawberry Basil
• Fresh Mint Leaf
• Raspberry
• Passion Fruit
• Yuzu
• Key Lime Pie
• Cherry Cordial
• Sweet Potato
• Mango Habanero
• Lavender Apricot
• Truffle Honey
• Hazelnut Latte
• Banana Dulcey
• Caramelized Pineapple
• Buttery Popcorn
• Peanut Brittle
• Ninja Turtle
• Toasted Coconut
• Red Wine & Berries
• Orange Butterscotch

I recently tried her Champagne and Cognac ones as well -- they are amazing.  The liquid slowly melts and then bursts in your mouth.  Time to stop by her shop and get some more.

Recipe: Braised Zabuton with Coffee Beans

(I almost didn't include a photo since I didn't
take time to nicely plate up the food.)

Braised Zabuton with Coffee Beans
Saveur, Issue #171 (Feb 2015), p. 22
4 stars

Nice dish with lots of flavor.  It was good, but not "oh my gosh amazing;" thus, the 4 stars.  The pickled shallots were a nice touch.


Tips/What We Did:

• Used chuck roast instead of zabuton or boneless chuck flap
• Used half the amount of beef but all vegetables and 1/2 of most of the other ingredients
• Instead of coffee beans, used 1 tbsp of coffee rub that we had
• Didn't need to reduce the sauce
• Didn't strain the sauce -- but did remove the bay leaves and star anise
• Served it over rice

As you can see, I didn't exactly follow the recipe, but it was close enough to produce a nice meal.

Recipe: Salt-and-Pepper Shrimp

Salt-and-Pepper Shrimp
Bon Appetit, p. 50, Dec 2014
5 stars

This dish reminded me of my childhood -- going to the authentic Chinese restaurants in Chinatown and ordering the shrimp that was so flavorful but wishing that they didn't have shells (I didn't like having to suck the flavor out of the shells and peel the shrimp at the table).

This recipe calls for shell-on shrimp, but we unshelled (de-shelled?) them.

Ingredients include:  shrimp, Sichuan peppercorns (ground), cilantro, Fresno chile, cornstarch, vegetable oil, Kosher salt, pepper

This is a FAST recipe to make and again, has so much flavor.

Tips:

• We used a jalapeno since we couldn't find a Fresno chile.
• Even though this was a spicy dish because of the Sichuan peppercorns, it needed another red spice like paprika or chile powder to give it another dimension.
• Serve this with garlicky green beans and steamed rice.
• Beware of the heat.  The spice from cooking the shrimp got into the air that I started sneezing!

Recipe: Creamy White Lasagna with Toppings

Creamy White Lasagna with Toppings
Food and Wine Magazine, Dec 2014, p. 148
5 stars

Blog contributor and husband "the grandcruman" made this for me last month, and it was freakin' amazing.  I would have paid $22 for a serving of it in a restaurant.

Here are a few tips from him:

• Allow a LOT of time to make this -- a few hours.
• Add red pepper to give it a kick.
• Use about 2 1/4 quart of whole milk instead of 2 quarts.  (The bechamel was too thick and hard to spread.)
• For the roasted wild mushroom topping, make sure to buy and use all 2 lbs of mushrooms so you have enough.

Recipe: Potato Gratin with Goat Cheese

Potato Gratin with Goat Cheese
Bon Appetit, p. 114, Dec 2014
5 stars

Made this in a pinch when we were trying to figure out what to make for dinner.  A great quick side!

Ingredients include:  potatoes, olive oil, rosemary, goat cheese, Kosher salt, pepper

Recipe: Roasted Sunchokes with Brown Butter-Cider Vinaigrette

Roasted Sunchokes with Brown Butter-Cider Vinaigrette
Food and Wine Magazine, p. 128, Dec 2014
5 stars

I think sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) are my favorite vegetable.  I love their texture and flavor -- like a potato but crunchy and like an artichoke.  It's just such an interesting vegetable!

This was an amazing side dish/salad;  I could eat this every week.  Can't wait to make this again.

Ingredients for this dish include:  sunchokes, fresh spinach, EVOO, thyme, garlic, apple cider vinegar, minced shallots, red pepper, honey, butter, chives, Kosher salt, pepper

Recipe: Best-Ever Potato Latkes

Best-Ever Potato Latkes
Food and Wine Magazine, p. 180, Dec 2014
5 Stars

True to the recipe's name, these were the best ever potato latkes we've ever made.  The latkes formed and stayed together nicely in the pan and had great flavor.  Instead of matzo meal, we used panko.

Recipe: Apple Cider-Cooked Farro

Apple Cider-Cooked Farro
Bon Appetit, p. 56, Nov 2014
4 stars

I'm writing this post almost a month after we made this recipe (behind on blogging!) so can't recall the dish 100%.  Plus, blog contributor and husband "the grandcruman" made the recipe.  I'll update this post the next time we make this!

Healthy vegetarian dish with good crunch and flavors.

Ingredients include:  celery root, apple, red onion, parsley, black olives, Pecorino, farro, apple cider vinegar, apple cider, bay leaf, Kosher salt, black pepper.

What we did differently:

• Used celery instead of celery root
• Left out the black olives
• Blanched the red onion in the farro cooking water for a couple of minutes

Recipe: Beef-and-Farro Soup

Beef-and-Farro Soup
Food and Wine Magazine, p. 126, Dec 2014
5 Stars

I'm writing this post almost a month after we made this recipe (behind on blogging!) so can't recall the dish 100%.  Plus, blog contributor and husband "the grandcruman" made the recipe.  I'll update this post the next time we make this!

A Chef Hugh Acheson recipe.  Nice flavor and easy to make.

Recipe: Alton Brown's Chocolate Bread Pudding

Alton Brown's Chocolate Bread Pudding
Good Eats on the Food Network
5 stars

After watching Alton Brown make Chocolate Bread Pudding on Good Eats, I came home one day and blog contributor and husband "the grandcruman" had made this for us for dessert!  Really really good.  I'd add more bourbon to it next time as well as a little bit of cinnamon and/or nutmeg.

Ski Cake

Like the "ski" cake that I made for blog contributor and husband "the grandcruman" for his birthday?

Recipe: Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Vanilla Cream Cheese Fluff

Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Vanilla Cream Cheese Fluff
Food and Wine Magazine, Dec 2014, p. 200
3.5 stars

Food and Wine Magazine really needs to test their recipes.  If you click the link above to this one, the recipe has a 'stamp' next to it that says "perfected in our test kitchen."  I think not.  (I've found that more often than not, their recipes aren't as accurate compared to Bon Appetit's.)

In any case, this recipe was ok -- I need to test the baking time and some things tomorrow when I bake the rest of the cakes.

Tips/Issues:

• The recipe says to use a 2-tablespoon ice cream scoop and scoop 10 level mounds of batter on to each baking sheet about 2 inches apart.  Um, do they use baking sheets made for giants?  10 mounds? Thank goodness I followed my instincts and only put 6 scoops of batter on to each sheet.  The cakes STILL ended up touching each other.  Tomorrow, I'll try small scoops of batter.
• The cakes were NOT done cooking at 12 minutes.  I baked them for 14, and they were perfectly done, but I'll test baking them for 16 min to see if the cakes harden up a little bit -- they were almost too soft to hold.
• The cakes also didn't come out round like cookies (not at all -- they looked like blobs).  I had to use a cookie cutter.

Recipe: Spiced Lamb Patties with Nutty Garlic Sauce

Spiced Lamb Patties with Nutty Garlic Sauce
Bon Appetit, November 2014, p. 48
5 stars

Freakin' delicious!
This is one of my favorite recipes we've made in the past few months.
Easy, complex flavors, pretty healthy, yum.

Modifications:

• Didn't make lamb patties -- just cooked the ground lamb in the pan like ground beef.
• Used naan instead of pita bread.

Next time:

• Use a LOT less oil (if any) when cooking the lamb.
• The garlic in the sauce isn't cooked so has a very strong flavor.  Add the garlic to the lamb instead.
• Make a yogurt sauce to go with this.