The Chef de Plunge

Dueling Holiday Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 19:05:00 +0000

Every year Tucker and I make the classic holiday butter cookies with his family. The kind you roll out and make into traditional holiday shapes like snowmen, trees, wreaths, menorahs, dreidels, and dinosaurs. But every year we argue about which recipe to use. MY recipe comes from Joan Nathan's The Children's Jewish Holiday Kitchen, which was given to me when I was 8 years old and I've been using every since. Tucker's family recipe is of unknown origin, but is written out in their family cookbook and memorized by basically everyone in the Morgan clan. On the surface they are very similar, buttery, delicious, not too sweet. But I believe my cookies hold a slight edge in stability (less crumbly) and taste. Of course Tucker and his family don't agree.

Whose is better? Obviously I prefer mine, but I'll let you decide! First, my recipe :) I'll post Tucker's soon.

Rachel's Traditional Holiday Cookies
Adapted from Joan Nathan's recipe

INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
Dash of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour

PREPARATION

In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar and light and fluffy.
Add (in this order) eggs, salt, vanilla, and flour (a little bit at a time if you don't want to make a mess).
Mix until JUST combined, then wrap up in cellophane in two bricks and rest for about 30 min in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thick. Cut into fun shapes with cookie cutters
Place them on untreated baking sheet.
Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Use a metal spatula to gently remove each cookie from the baking sheet to a cooling rack.
Frost liberally and colorfully

Hamantaschen (Jewish Shortbread Cookies)

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 17:30:00 +0000

They won't all look beautiful, but they will all be delicious

Purim may be over, but I think Hamantaschen are a delicious year-round treat. What are Hamantaschen, you may be wondering? They are a delicious fruit (or chocolate or poppyseed) filled cookie that you eat on the Jewish holiday, Purim. They are folded into triangles to represent the triangular hat that the story's villain (Haman) wore. Like many of my Jewish recipes, I use Joan Nathan's version (unless I have a traditional family recipe for it).

Hamantaschen
adapted from the Jewish Holiday Kitchen

Makes about 36

Ingredients
2/3 cup pareve margarine or butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2-3 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Dash of salt

http://boomtoasted.tumblr.com/post/141093507740/making-hamentaschen-couldnt-wait-until-purim

Instructions

Cream the shortening with sugar (we do this in the mixer, yes it's red like everything in our kitchen) until the sugar is totally incorporated into the butter. You will know it's ready because the mixture won't be grainy. Add egg and continue creaming until smooth.
Add the vanilla. Stir in the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt until a ball of dough is formed
Chill for 2-3 hours, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Taking 1/4 of the dough, roll out on a lightly floured board to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut circles of dough with a drinking glass or round cookie-cutter.
Prepare your fillings by mixing poppy seeds with honey, sesame seeds with honey, or chipping chocolate. I also like to make jam filled cookies. It helps if you microwave the honey for about 15 seconds before mixing with the poppy seeds or sesame seeds.
Fill with 1 teaspoon filling and fold into three-cornered cookies. (Press two sides together, and then fold the third side over and press the ends together.)
Bake on a well-greased cookie sheet or silpat for 10-16 minutes, until the tops are golden.

Creamed butter and sugar

Stop when it looks like this, don't overmix the dough!

Sesame and honey is my new favorite filling

Raspberry jam and chocolate chip fillings are good too

chocolate chip cookie dough filled hamantaschen, are we insane?

Smoked BBQ Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 02:35:00 +0000

Summer is coming to an end, so we're trying to squeeze as much grilling as we can into the season. BBQ chicken is one of those things that is just SO SO good on the grill. Sure, you can make a good BBQ chicken in the oven, but it's really not the same.

We recently bought the PartyQ temperature controller for our grill, which helps keep a low constant temperature for smoking. If you don't have this, or a smoker, do not attempt this recipe since the chicken will be at an unsafe temp. However, the original recipe that we adapted this from was actually for smokerless smoked chicken, so check that out for an alternative.

BBQ sauce is the perfect accompaniment for this chicken, Tucker makes a killer sweet and spicy one that we are still attempting to document exactly what goes in it. We'll have to post that one another time.

Smoked Chicken (adapted from Chef Steps)
Ingredients

25 g salt (approx)
100 g molasses
25 g soy sauce
1 whole Chicken, ours was about 5 pounds

Instructions

Halve the chicken, remove the back (Chef Steps has good pictures of this if you haven't done it before). Generously salt and refrigerate overnight
Mix together soy sauce and molasses, keep it ready with a pastry brush
Light a chimney full of coals, set up a two zone fire. Place a foil packet with soaked cherry wood chips over the coals. Put the chicken on the cool side of grill, glaze 3 times with the molasses and soy mixture, close up the grill and set the PartyQ to 195F.
Cook for about 2.5 hours or until the until a thermometer inserted into the breast reads 145F.
Take the lid off the grill, leaving the PartyQ fan running, and crisp the skin over the hot side of the coals until it's the perfect charred toastiness. Remove chicken and serve with BBQ sauce.

Ricotta Stuffed Squash Blossoms Over Quinoa Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 03:29:00 +0000

Growing up in Massachusetts, I've never really understood all the fuss about California produce. Hey, we had strawberries and spinach and peaches and squash too! Now that we're living out here, I get it. Every week I have the best XYZ I've ever had (except the corn, nothing beats New England corn on the cob). And there is also access to produce at farmer's markets that you almost NEVER see in the New England... or if you do, you have about 2 days to get it before it's gone. Squash blossoms are a great example of this. I've eaten fried squash blossoms many times in restaurants and always loved them, but never have had the opportunity to cook with them at home. UNTIL NOW.

I expected this project to be difficult and time consuming, but really, it wasn't! It's definitely a two person job to get this done in a timely manner, but don't be daunted by squash blossoms, this was much easier than it looks!

Ricotta Stuffed Squash Blossoms
Adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients

Batter

3/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon season salt
1/2 cup water
1 whole egg, slightly beaten

Filling

10 to 15 squash blossoms
1/2 cup whole-milk ricotta
1 egg yolk
Basil to taste
Vegetable oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

First, make the batter. Combine the first 5 ingredients, and then stir in the egg and water until smooth. Store in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes.
While the batter is chilling, prepare the squash blossoms. Carefully separate the flower petals without breaking them and remove the pistil in the center.
Combine the cheese, egg yolk, and basil until smooth. Carefully add about a tablespoon of this mixture to each blossom and twist the top of the flower tight.
Heat enough oil in a frying pan or dutch oven - about an inch deep - to accommodate the blossoms.
Get the batter out of the fridge and dip each blossom in batter, coating it.
Carefully place each batter-covered blossom in the hot oil and fry until golden crisp on both sides.
Remove and drain on paper towels, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

We ate the squash blossoms over a simple quinoa salad that we don't entirely remember how we made (oops), but essentially it included quinoa, red onion, a mild feta with a lemon and olive oil vinaigrette!

Accidentally Vegan: Roasted Chickpeas with Sherry and Spinach Over Israeli Couscous

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 02:59:00 +0000

This is one of our go-to, quick dinners when we need something healthy and delicious based on things we usually have around the house. This weekend, when a vegan friend was visiting, we realized that this dish we've been whipping up for years could be very easily made vegan. So, it's not "accidental" in this case (like in the past), but an adaptation. This dish is great over rice, couscous (Israeli or regular), or whatever starch you have lying around.

Roasted Chickpeas with Sherry and Spinach Over Israeli Couscous

Loosely adapted from Mark Bittman

Ingredients

2 cans of chickpeas, strained, rinsed, and dried
1/4 cup olive oil + 2 Tbs
1/4 cup sherry
2 big bunches of spinach, rinsed and stemmed
8 oz turkey chorizo (optional)
1/4 cup minced shallots
4 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 tsp cumin (we prefer whole cumin seeds that we crush in mortar and pestle)
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 cup (dry) Israeli couscous

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450. Spread chickpeas in a single layer on a jellyroll pan (aka baking sheet with sides), pour just enough olive oil over chickpeas until evenly coated, sprinkle spices over the chickpeas and place in the oven. Bake chickpeas for about 20 minutes, or until they are just toasted brown and crispy. Keep an eye on the chickpeas so they don't burn, occasionally stir them and shake the pan to redistribute.
While chickpeas are roasting, cook Israeli couscous according to directions.
While chickpeas are roasting and couscous is cooking, in a large saucepan, heat 1 Tbs olive oil and brown chorizo (if using). Remove chorizo from pan and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of olive oil to pan, add shallots and garlic and sauté until lightly browned. Add spinach and sherry, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook spinach over medium-low heat until very soft.
Add chorizo, if using, back to the pan and toss quickly to combine, drizzle with a bit more oil. Serve into bowls over couscous and top with a generous portion of roasted chickpeas.

This is the non-vegan version with turkey chorizo

Heavenly Chocolate Wedding Cake With Cherry Buttercream

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 02:13:00 +0000

First of all, some news. WE MOVED TO SAN FRANCISCO! We're currently unpacking and starting to eat our way through the city, so if you have recommendations on restaurants, farmer's markets, CSAs, or anything else, please let me know! So far, I think our best meal has been at Brenda's French Soul Food, although the brunch at Saha deserves an honorable mention for being SO delicious and super low key.

More on that later. In other big news, we made our first wedding cake! And it was delicious and beautiful and totally worth delaying our move for (no joke). We were pretty intimidated by this project, but with lots of love and coaching from Aunt Susan (who made our wedding cake), and a few test runs (yum), we made it through.

This was a small wedding cake (served about 50 people), but this could easily be scaled up (or down) as needed. The base was 9 inches and the top tier was 6 inches. Note that you need a 6-quart mixer or larger to make the batter all in one batch.

First, the cake base. I listed everything in volume and weight, but weight is better, if you have a good scale (we use this one).

All American Chocolate Butter Cake
Adapted from the Cake Bible (by the way, if you don't own this cookbook, and you like cake, go buy it now, seriously)

Ingredients

1 cup + 5 Tbsp (4.5 oz) Unsweetened dutch-processed cocoa
2 cups (16.56 oz) boiling water
6 large eggs (10.5 oz w/o shell)
1 1/2 Tbsp (10.5 oz) vanilla
4 3/4 cup (16.5 oz) sifted cake flour
3 cup (21oz) sugar
3 Tbsp (1.56 oz) baking powder
1 1/2 Tsp (.3 oz) salt
2 cups (15.96 oz) unsalted butter (softened)

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350 F.
Grease two 9-inch and two 6-inch round layer cake pans and and line the bottoms with circles of cut-to-fit parchment paper or wax paper.
Stir together the unsweetened cocoa powder and the boiling water in a small mixing bowl, mixing until ingredients are completely smooth. Cool the mixture to room temperature.
In another mixing bowl, combine the eggs, 1/4 of the cocoa mixture and vanilla extract. Set the mixture aside.
Combine the sifted cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients for 30 seconds with an electric mixer on low speed. Add the unsalted, softened butter and the remaining cocoa mixture. Mix the ingredients on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed with a stand mixer, or high speed for a hand mixer. Beat the mixture for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of bowl.
Gradually add the egg mixture in three batches, beating 20 seconds after each addition.
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pans. Bake cakes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 25 to 35 minutes.
Cool cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto wire racks to cool completely.

Cherry Silk Meringue Buttercream Frosting
Adapted from the The Cake Bible (did you buy it yet?)
This is the most complex frosting we've ever made, but it's OH so good. You'll probably have a little bit leftover, but that's ok.

Part 1: Creme Anglaise
Ingredients

1 cup (7 oz) sugar
10 (6.5 oz) large egg yolks
1 cup (8.4 oz) milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Put a sieve over a bowl near the stove. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and egg yolks
In a small saucepan, bring the milk and vanilla to a boil. Add 1/4 cup of the milk to the yolk mixture, stirring constantly. Gradually add the remaining milk, stirring, and cook over medium-low heat. stirring constantly, until just below boiling point. The mixture will start to steam slightly and will register 170 degrees F.
Cool the custard to room temp, cover and refrigerate up to 5 days.

Part 2 : Italian Meringue
Ingredients

2/3 cup + 4 Tbsp (6.5 oz) sugar
1/4 cup (2 oz) water
4 (4 oz) large egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Instructions

Put a heatproof glass measuring cup near the stove. In a small saucepan, combine 2/3 cup sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is bubbling. Stop stirring and reduce heat to low.
In your mixer, beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form when the beater is raised. Gradually beat in the remaining 4 Tbsp of sugar until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised.
Increase the heat and boil the syrup until between 248 and 250 degrees F. Immediately transfer the syrup to the glass measuring cup.
Pour a small amount of the syrup over the egg whites with the mixer off, then immediately beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Stop the mixer, add a larger amount and beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Continue with remaining syrup. Lower speed to medium and continue beating until completely cool. Can be stored for 2 days in the fridge, but will need to be rebeaten before using.

Part 3: Cherry Syrup
Ingredients

2 pounds of sweet cherries
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Instructions

Wash and pit the cherries (I highly recommend this excellent cherry pitter)
In a large pot, combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute.
Reduce heat and add berries and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and use an immersion blender (aka stick blender) to puree the mixture in the pot.
Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve. For best results, let the syrup cool only to slightly above room temp, and then immediately mix into the buttercream (otherwise the natural pectin in the cherries will set in and make the syrup very gelatinous. This won't impact taste, but the texture is not ideal).

Part 4: Bring it all together
Ingredients

1 batch creme anglaise
1 batch Italian meringue
1 batch cherry syrup
4 cups (2 pounds) unsalted butter (softened)

Instructions

Place butter in mixer and beat for 30 seconds at medium speed until creamy. Gradually beat in the creme anglaise until smooth
Add the meringue and beat until just incorporated. Beat in cherry syrup until evenly incorporated.
Place in airtight container. If you decide to refrigerate to use later, you must first let it come up to room temp on it's own, then rebeat it.

Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients

12 oz chocolate, coarsely chipped/chopped
1 Tbsp kirsch liqueur
1 cup heavy cream

Instructions

Place chocolate in heatproof container
Heat cream on stove until just boiling, remove from heat and pour over chocolate.
Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.
Whisk mixture until smooth, whisk in kirsch.

Assembly
Equipment

One 6-inch and one 9-inch cardboard cake rounds (like these. They don't need to be fancy, you won't see them in the end).
4 wooden dowels or non-bendy straws
Pastry bag
Offset spatula

A little blurry, but do you see the dowels peeking out of the top?

Instructions

Place the 9 inch cakes, one on top of the other, on the cardboard cake rounds, with a thick layer of chocolate ganache in between. To keep the cake "glued" to the cardboard, put a few dabs of buttercream on the bottom. Do the same for the 6 inch rounds.
Frost the layers separately. I'm not a cake decorating expert by any means, but, I found the easiest technique was to pipe the frosting on with a pastry bag and then smooth it out with an offset spatula.
Get ready to place the dowels: mark an outline on the frosted bottom tier where the next tier will go. You can use the 6 inch cake pan as the guide. Insert the dowels or straws into the bottom cake layer in a square, just inside the border of where the top layer will go. Remove the dowels/straws and cut to size so they just barely poke out about the buttercream. Put the dowels/straws back in the cake.
Keeping the top layer on it's cardboard base, carefully put the top layer on by centering it over the dowels. The top tier should be resting wholly on the dowels, not the bottom tier. Pipe a border of buttercream at the base to hide the small gap and cardboard.
Decorate! I used a basic frosting comb to make a pattern with lines and then flowers to decorate, but I bet you can get more creative!

The bride and groom get messy

Boston Restaurants Bucket List

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 01:41:00 +0000

I have some big news. We're moving! And moving pretty far away to another very exciting food city: SAN FRANCISCO! And while we're already making a list of restaurants we want to eat at in our new home, we still have a few weeks left in Boston and we're formulating a "bucket list" of places that we NEED to try (or retry) before we go. Here's the preliminary, please send your thoughts and additions to the list SOON so we can make sure to fulfill our food lives in Boston before we head out to the left coast.

To try for the first time:
Mei Mei Street Kitchen
Giulia
Uni/Clio (specifically, the late night ramen)
Strip-T's
Row 34

To revisit before we go:
Neptune Oyster (lobster roll, with butter, YES)
TW Food (specifically, the Tuesday night wine dinner)
Spoke
Oleana
Highland Kitchen (if we can get in, the lines here have gotten insane in the past few years!)

What are the major omissions? Obviously, there are a lot of favorites that aren't even listed here (Ten Tables, Puritan & Co, No. 9 Park, Menton, Rialto, Harvest, Sarma, Pescatore, Giacomo's, Myers & Chang, Sweet Cheeks, Tupelo, West Bridge, Posto) but we don't have time to revisit all the old favs, sadly. We'll definitely be back to visit and try/retry places!

If you have any San Francisco recommendations, we'll take those too :)

Teriyaki Stuffed Flanksteak With Charred Brussel Sprout Soba Noodle Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Sun, 01 Jun 2014 01:45:00 +0000

It's grilling season! Inspired by Serious Eat's stuffed flank steak week, we set off to make teriyaki steak flanks and WOW, were they good. Accompanied by a soba noodle salad to the cut the richness, this may be my new favorite summer dish!

First, the salad. This included grilled brussel sprouts (which work well in a grill basket) and grilled red peppers.

Soba Noodle Salad With Charred Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients
1/2 pound soba noodles
1 pound brussel sprouts trimmed and halved
2 red peppers (whole)
1 bunch scallions, chopped
4 Tbs ponzu
4 Tbs soy sauce
Juice of 2 limes
4 Tbs toasted sesame oil

Instructions

Load up a grill basket with the brussel sprouts, cook over high heat on the grill until lightly charred on both sides.
Place the red pepper (whole, skin on), on the grill grate and cook until black on all sides
Meanwhile, cook the soba noodles as directed on the package, strain and toss with sesame oil
Remove veggies from grill, let red pepper cool and then peel off the blackened skin, then chop roughly. Also chop the brussel sprouts roughly
Mix together soy sauce, ponzu, and lime juice
Toss everything together in a large bowl, sprinkle scallions on top

Next up, the meat!

Grilled Stuffed Flank Steak With Scallions, Ginger, and Teriyaki Glaze
From Serious Eats
Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus 2 teaspoons
2 cups thinly sliced scallions
3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 whole flank steak, 2 to 2 1/2 pounds, trimmed of excess fat Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup Mirin
1/2 cup Sake

Instructions

Heat vegetable oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Meanwhile, combine scallions and ginger in a medium bowl and season well with salt. When oil is hot, pour over scallions and ginger. It should sizzle for a few seconds. Allow to cool.
Lay steak on a cutting board with grain running parallel to the edge of the counter. Trim left and right edges to form a clean rectangle and reserve scraps for another use. Hold steak flat with your non-knife hand and, with a sharp boning knife, carefully butterfly the steak, leaving the back edge attached by 1/2- to 1/4-inch of meat. Open up steak and flatten the seam gently with your hand to form a large perfect rectangle.
Season steak on exposed side with salt and pepper. Spread scallion-ginger mixture over steak, leaving a 1-inch border at the top and the bottom.
Carefully roll the steak away from you (the grain should run width-wise), tightening as you go until it is rolled into a cylinder. Let it rest with its seam-side down.
Insert a skewer every few inches. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut between the skewers to make the pinwheels. Season with salt and pepper.
Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals evenly over half of coal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover gill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate.
Place the pinwheels on the hot side of the grill and cook without moving until well charred on first side, about 3 minutes. Flip steaks and char second side, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer to cooler side of grill, brush with 1 to 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce, cover, and cook until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center registers 120°F for medium-rare or 130°F for medium, flipping once half way through cooking and brushing with more sauce. Transfer to a platter, let rest for five minutes, brush with more sauce, sprinkle with scallions, and serve with soba noodle salad.

Roasted Artichokes With Lemon Garlic Butter

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Wed, 14 May 2014 01:34:00 +0000

Sometimes, simplicity is perfection. And when it comes to fresh artichokes, roasted, dipped in lemon butter, you don't need much else to achieve perfection. This may be one of the simplest recipes I've posted, but it is oh SO worthwhile.

Roasted Artichokes With Lemon Garlic Butter

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients

2 artichokes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Pinch of lemon zest
4 tablespoons softened butter
1 clove garlic, grated with microplane grater

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees.
Cut off most of stem of 1 artichoke, leaving about 3/4 inch attached. Cut off top quarter. Pull tough outer leaves downward toward stem and break off at base; continue until first three or four rows of leaves have been removed. Using paring knife, trim outer layer of stem and rough areas around base, removing any dark green parts. Cut artichoke in half lengthwise. Using spoon, remove fuzzy choke. Pull out inner, tiny purple-tinged leaves, leaving small cavity in center of each half. Repeat with remaining artichoke.
Brush 13 by 9-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon oil. Toss artichokes with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and 3/4 teaspoon salt and season with pepper to taste, gently working some oil and seasonings between leaves. Arrange artichoke halves cut side down in baking dish and cover tightly with aluminum foil, place in oven for 25 to 30 minutes (until cut sides of artichokes start to brown and both bases and leaves are tender when poked with tip of paring knife).
While artichokes are roasting, combine lemon juice, zest, butter, and garlic and mash with a fork until even.
Remove artichokes from oven, flip over, deposit a dollop of butter on each and serve warm.

Kaiser Rolls!

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Sun, 11 May 2014 01:09:00 +0000

Kaiser rolls are the BEST for sandwich rolls! We had a BBQ where we smoked a roast for sandwiches and made the rolls. They look a bit tricky to form, but they really aren't (see video below demonstrating the method)!

Kaiser Rolls

Based on Serious Eat's recipe

Ingredients
812 grams /1 pound 12 2/3 ounces bread flour
430 grams / 15 1/8 ounces water
41 grams / 1 1/2 ounces eggs
29 grams / 1 ounce fresh yeast
19 grams / 2/3 ounce vegetable oil
16 grams / 1/2 ounce malt syrup
19 grams 2/3 ounce salt
18 grams / 2/3 ounce sugar

Steps

Combine the bread flour with the water, eggs, yeast, vegetable oil, and malt syrup in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the hook.
Mix on low speed for about 4 minutes, or until blended.
Add the salt and sugar, increase the mixer speed to medium, and mix for about 8 minutes, or until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, feels elastic, and gives some resistance when tugged.
Lightly oil a large bowl or container.
Scrape the dough into the prepared bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic film and set aside to ferment for 1 hour.
Lightly flour a clean, flat work surface.
Uncover the dough and divide it into 12 115-gram / 4-ounce rounds on the floured surface. Cover with plastic film and bench rest for 15 minutes.
Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
Uncover the dough and, if necessary, lightly flour the work surface. Roll and shape the bun (See video below, for more assistance, check out King Arthur Flour's instructions)
Place 6 rolls, seam side down, onto each of the prepared pans.
Cover with plastic film and proof for 1 hour. 10 About an hour before you are ready to bake the rolls, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Uncover the dough and transfer the rolls to the preheated oven. Bake for 22 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown and crisp.
Remove from the oven and transfer to wire racks to cool.
Make into sandwiches!

Making kaiser rolls! #foodiegram

Cornmeal Cake With Plum And Cherry Sorbet

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Summer is coming to end. As sad as that makes me, I'm also looking forward to the delicious food that comes in the Fall--apples, winter squash, pumpkins. As one last hurrah, we made a yummy sorbet with sour plums and cherries. However, the sorbet turned out very tart, and we decided it needed to be paired with something sweet. So we made a cornmeal cake to go with it. The results, sweet, sour, crunchy, smooth, Summery, but with a hint of Fall.

Plum and Cherry Sorbet

Adapted from Serious Eats

Ingredients
3 cups of plums, pitted, and quartered (I think the kind we had was mirabelle plums, they were small and yellow)
1 cup of cherries, pitted and halved
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon Xanthan gum (don't worry if you don't have this, I think it will still work fine, it just improves the texture)

Instructions

Purée plums and cherries in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Add sugar, Xanthan gum, and corn syrup and blend for 30 seconds.
Add salt, blend to incorporate, and adjust to taste.
Strain purée and transfer to refrigerator; chill for 2 to 3 hours until very cold.
Churn sorbet in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
Transfer sorbet to freezer to firm up for 2 to 3 hours before serving.

Cornmeal cake

Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel
1 cup sugar (plus a little extra to sprinkle on top)
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter 9-inch cake pan or spring-form pan with 2-inch-high sides. Dust pan with cornmeal, tapping out excess.
Sift flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt into medium bowl.
Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Beat in orange peel. Gradually add 1 cup sugar and beat until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping sides of bowl.
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in sour cream and vanilla.
Fold in dry ingredients in 3 additions until just incorporated. Transfer batter to pan; smooth top. Sprinkle with extra sugar.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes. Run knife around pan sides to loosen.
Turn cake out onto plate, then invert, crushed sugar side up, onto rack.
Cool completely. Cut cake into wedges. Serve with plum cherry sorbet.

Thai Green Curry Paste

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 01:27:00 +0000

Thai food is the best, who doesn't love it? Tucker and I went on our honeymoon to Thailand and of course we had to take a cooking class there! We learned how to make a delicious green curry with chicken. Unforunately, bringing the recipe back home proved tricky. We have mastered the curry paste (which is delicious), but are still working on refining the overall chicken curry recipe. We will hopefully be able to share than soon, but in the meantime, here is the excellent recipe for the green curry paste! Use it in your favorite curry recipe (like this one, or this one) instead of using one from a jar.

Thai Green Curry Paste

Adapted From Zazen Restaurant's Cooking Class

Ingredients

8 small fresh green got chillies (little Thai chillies)

1 large fresh green chili (called prik shi fa kiew)

1 tbsp. chopped shallots

1 tsp. chopped garlic

1 tbsp. chopped lemon grass

1 tsp. chopped galangal (thai ginger)

1/2 tsp. chopped kaffir lime peel or leaves (we couldn't find this back home, so we substituted for regular lime)

1 tsp. chopped coriander root or stem (we couldn't find this back home, so we left it out)

1/2 tsp. coriander seeds

1/2 tsp. anise seeds

1/4 tsp. black peppercorns

1/2 tsp. shrimp paste

1/8 tsp. salt

Instructions:

In a small wok or pan saute the coriander seeds, anise, cumin seeds, and black pepper until fragrant and put them in a mortar and pestle with the salt and grind to a fine powder.
Add chillies and grind again until it is smooth paste. Add the garlic, shallots, shrimp paste, garlic, galangal, and lemon grass and grind again into a smooth paste. Add the lime juice at the very end.

NOTE: if you are making a larger quantity of curry paste to keep, after grinding saute the paste in soy bean oil over a low heat, stirring constantly for 15 minutes. Let cool. Will keep in a jar in freezer or fridge for several months.

Birthday Cupcakes: A Request For Help!

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 19:17:00 +0000

Tucker doesn't believe in cupcakes. He acknowledges they exist, but he says serious cooks don't make cupcakes. He thinks the cake dries out in the oven, he thinks they are a dumb fad. I'll concede the point about fads, but it doesn't stop me from loving cupcakes. They're cute! And they have a favorable cake-to-frosting ratio (i.e., more frosting per bite). They're also more portable than cake. As a concession to my love of cupcakes, once per year, on my birthday, Tucker will make cupcakes. As a result I spend the rest of the year dreaming about what cupcakes I should request.

Here is a roundup of cupcakes from the past few years (WARNING, there are explicitly delicious pictures of cupcakes below):

2009: S'more Cupcakes

2010: Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel Cupcakes

2011: Cookie Dough Cupcakes

These were some of my favorite cupcakes, and for some reason, I can't find a picture of them! They were vanilla cupcakes filled with cookie dough, brown sugar frosting, and a mini cookie on top. I'll update the post if I can find a pic.

2012: Cannoli Cupcakes

No blog post on this, sadly, but they were a vanilla cupcake filled and topped with homemade ricotta and sugar, with a chocolate glaze, topped with a crispy cookie and chocolate shavings.

2013: ???

This is where I need help. What is your favorite cupcake recipe? The more decadent the better! Leave a comment with your suggestion.

Some preliminary inspirations:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Oreo Cupcakes

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Filling, Whipped Chocolate Ganache, and Crushed Pretzel

Kale Pasta With Toasted Pine Nuts And Cherry Tomatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 02:12:00 +0000

We love kale! And that's a good thing because we get a lot of it from our farm share. This dish is really quick and simple, but also delicious. It's our go-to meal when we're short on time, but need something good.

Kale Pasta With Toasted Pine Nuts And Cherry Tomatoes

Adapted from The Garum Factory

Ingredients
1 large bunch kale
1 pound spaghetti
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped garlic
1 chopped shallot
1/2 cup chopped pepperoni (we use turkey pepperoni, feel free to judge us)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup pine nuts
Grated pecorino cheese

Instructions

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil. Strip the leaves off the stems of the kale. Discard the stems. Wash and drain the leaves.
When the water is boiling add the kale. Stir until the water returns to a boil. Cook 5 minutes. Scoop the kale out of the water and drain in a colander. Do not discard the kale water. Allow the kale to to cool briefly and then chop fine.
Add the pasta to the kale water, cover briefly until the water returns to a boil, then remove the cover, stir and cook 7 minutes or until al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil to medium heat and lightly fry the pepperoni for a few minutes. Remove the pepperoni and set aside.
Add garlic and shallots over medium heat and cook 5 minutes or until the garlic is toasty. Don’t let it get too dark or it will taste bitter.
Add the pepperoni, tomatoes, and pine nuts, cook another few minutes. When pine nuts are toasty, add chopped kale and cook 2 minutes to meld the flavors.
Scoop the pasta out of the water directly into the pan with the kale. Add ½ cup pasta cooking water, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
Added the grated pecorino. Season with salt and pepper.
Enjoy!

Our Wedding: The Cake!

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 11:38:00 +0000

Tucker and I are incredibly lucky to have an incredibly talented baker in our family. Tucker's Aunt Susan is responsible for getting Tucker started on his lifelong journey with cooking and baking. We were also incredibly lucky that Susan agreed to bake our wedding cake.

It was amazing. Chocolate with more chocolate, raspberry filling, butter cream, ganache, decorated with violets and lilacs. I'm constantly thinking about breaking into the cake top that is in our freezer, I guess we are supposed to wait until our first anniversary.

I had a grand plan of typing up the recipe with her notes, but I just looked at the 10+ pages and gave up. The recipe is originally adapted from the Chocolate Wedlock recipe in "Death by Chocolate: The Last Word on a Consuming Passion." If you are really serious about baking a wedding cake, get in touch and I'll send over the recipe. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures!

Cousin Emily steals an extra piece of cake:

Our Wedding: The Food And Drink

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 11:08:00 +0000

Well, we did it. That's right, after over 10 years of dating, Tucker and I finally got married. As you can imagine, it was a decadent affair, with lots of attention to the food and beverages. While I don't have recipes to share, I thought I would take a post to detail what we did!

Let me start by giving credit where credit is due: Capers Catering did an incredible job with the food. As you can imagine, we have pretty high standards, and they absolutely met them. The beautiful pictures were taken by Perspectives Photography (some of the less beautiful shots in the bunch were taken by my iPhone).

Refreshments started at the ceremony with rosemary lemonade, self-served as guests arrived:

The menu:

The passed appetizers:

Lemon-Dill Crepe with Smoke Salmon and Herb Cheese
Parsley and Parmesan Encrusted Baby Lamb Chop Lollipops au Mint Jus
Chilled Minted Pea Soup Shooters & a Manchego, Dried Apricot Grilled Cheese Baton
Heart-Shaped Wild Mushroom, Caramelized Shallots, & Goat Cheese Tartlet
Crispy Beet Chip with Crème Fraiche, Caviar, and Chives

Stationary cheese display:

Selected cheese brought by familiar members from California and some bought from Whole Foods (i.e., Humboldt Fog and Truffle Tremor). There were also delicious homemade crackers and tapenade! I'll have to get the full list and recipes from Aunt Susan.

The first course:

Roasted Vegetable & Lemon Ricotta Tart Petite Herb Salad topped with Crispy Shallots With Red Pepper Puree and Lemon Pepper Vinaigrette

Main courses:

Parsley & Pepper Crusted Beef Tenderloin atop Wild Mushroom Crostini with Thyme-Shallot Reduction
OR
Seared Filet of Halibut, Fresh Lemon Zest and Lemon-Mascarpone Cream
Both Accompanied by a Wild Mushroom & Spring Pea Risotto Cake and Roasted Summer Vegetables
OR
Barley Risotto with Artichokes & Roasted Red Peppers, Chive Oil

The beverages:

The main attraction from a beverage perspective was the incredible flight of beers that Tucker's brother, Lee, brewed for us, with labels designed by Tucker's cousin. See an overview of the brewing process on Lee's blog here and details on the following brews here: Hoppily Ever After, Ale We Need Is Love, RachAle, TuckBrew.

My favorite was the LoveyWeiss, which was a raspberry Berlinerweiss. Here is a picture of my mom drinking it:

We also had a house punch that we called "HoneyIDo Punch", which was a Pimms and honeydew punch served in mason jars (see picture of us toasting below with the punch). We used this recipe from Serious Eats: Pimms Melon Punch.

And dessert, of course!

We had macaron favors made in pistachio and raspberry flavors, some with cream filling, some with chocolate ganache filling. Finding a local vendor who could make decent macaron at scale was difficult. After tasting several places, we finally found Bliss Bakery in Groton, and OH MY GOODNESS, do they make a good macaron. Check out the favors and the macaron tower here:

We also had strawberries with sabayon and/or chocolate ganache for dipping. Yum!

Oh, and there was an INCREDIBLE cake too, made by Tucker's Aunt Susan. But I'll save that for another post.

TheChefDePlunge's photostream

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 01:17:00 +0000

TheChefDePlunge's photostream on Flickr.

Some of our latest adventures in food:
SPAGHETTI WITH KALE, SALAMI AND TOASTED GARLIC

Cherry ice cream bon bons

Cherry, plum sorbet
Cherry shrub
Chocolate chip cookies
Stuffed focaccia

Scallop Hush Puppies With Lemon Allioli Dipping Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0000

In Tucker's endless attempts to corrupt me (and make me die young), he made bay scallop hush puppies. Seriously, where does he get these ideas? Oh yeah, from the cook books, I give him. This instant favorite was from Rick Moonen's Fish Without A Doubt (our copy is SIGNED by Rick from when I went to his restaurant in Las Vegas! Boom toasted).

Before you get too anxious about not having the right equipment, we did not use a deep fryer for this. We use a dutch oven and a thermometer, oh, and a ton of oil.

Scallop Hush Puppies With Lemon Allioli Dipping Sauce

Ingredients
FOR FRITTERS
1/2 cup milk
1 TBS white vinegar
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp coarse salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 pound frozen bay scallops
fresh ground white pepper
canola oil for deep frying

FOR ALLIOLI
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large egg yolks
fresh lemon juice

Instructions
FOR FRITTERS

Whisk milk and vinegar together, let sit while you do the rest of the prep. It will thicken and look a bit curdled
In another bowl, whisk cornmeal, floug, baking soda, salt, and some white pepper
Heat 3 or more inches of oil in the dutch oven to 350-365F
When ready to fry, add milk mixture and egg to dry ingredients, stir until smooth. Fold in scallops
Lift scallops out one my one and drop into hot oil, fry until golden
Remove hush puppies with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels or drying rack

FOR ALLIOLI
In blender, purée garlic, salt, cayenne pepper, and 2 teaspoons oil until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add yolks and lemon juice and blend until smooth. With motor running, very slowly add remaining 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons oil in thin, steady stream, blending until allïoli is thick, about 2 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Serve fritters hot, with allioli dipping sauce and fresh lemon wedges

Rice Krispies Treat Paninis

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:58:00 +0000

This might sound strange, but I promise it was nothing short of heavenly. Essentially, we made a "panini" out of two Rice Krispies treats with chocolate in the middle and grilled it on a panini press. Seriously, what could be better? We fancied-up this guilty pleasure a bit by making our own marshmallow.

Rice Krispies Treat Paninis
Inspired by Ideas in Food, marshmallow recipe from Alton Brown

Ingredients
3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately
1 1/2 cups 1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
About half a box of Rice Krispies (sorry we can't be more precise)
A few chocolate bars

Instructions

Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper, spray with non-stick spray
Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water.
In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt.
Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes.
Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat. Using the whisk attachment, turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture.
Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes.
Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping.
Add in Rice Krispies and mix until just combined
Spread mixture out evenly over parchment and let sit overnight
Cut Rice Krispies treats into squares (we did about 1.5') using a pizza wheel
Spray a griddle or panini press and preheat
Make a sandwich with chocolate and two pieces of Rice Krispies treats, grill until golden brown
Don't burn your tongue on the molten chocolate or marshmallow

Sorry, no picture of the finished product, we ate them too fast. oops.

On The Road: The Luquillo Kioskos

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:38:00 +0000

Well, I've been pretty negligent about updating this blog. Let me explain, right around the time the posts started falling off, I started travelling for work. Like a lot. TripIt tells me it was almost 150k miles. As you can imagine, that doesn't leave me much time to blog, but more importantly, it didn't leave me much time to eat meals at home. But, I really miss blogging and I realized, why don't I blog about some of the interesting things I eat while on the road. Yes, sometimes it's just lots of fast food. But no matter where I go from Rome to Salt Lake City, I try to eat something unique and interesting. I'm going to start documenting this under a new "On the road" section of the blog. First up, a trip I actually took for FUN (shocking): Puerto Rico.

We spent a few days in Old San Juan (and actually had our best meal at a breakfast place called Caficultura, I highly recommend the sweet potato crepes), but I want to tell you about is the food in a little beach town called Luquillo. I have to admit, I did pick Luquillo because it is home to the famous Luquillo Kioskos-- a strip just off the beach about a half-mile long jammed with about 50 or so food stands (or kiosks) with fare ranging from traditional fried Puerto Rican (more on this in a moment) and American (i.e., hot dogs) street food to pretty nice sit down restaurants with wait staff serving food from all over the world.

My pictures of the kiosks aren't so great, so I admit I had to steal some by other people so you get the idea.

Since we were staying in a lovely little hotel about a half mile walk down the beach from the kioskos, we spent a good deal of time on this little strip. It was also a perfect place to escape to and drink rum during the few short rain showers that drove us off the beach!

Despite the humble appearance of the kiosks, we had some world class food in these shacks.About half of the kiosks are defined by the large glass cases of fried goodies (which we obliged to sample all different types) include bacalaitos (imagine a giant chip, crispy, and made with salt cod), alcapurrias (meat dumplings in a masa dough), empanadillas, arepas, pastelillos, sorullos (cornmeal breaded fried cheese sticks that are slightly sweet), and SO much more.Wash it all down with coco frio (a cold coconut with a hole for a straw in it to drink the water) or mavi (or mauby, a homemade soda sort of like birch beer).

Fried food case

I enjoy a coco frio

Ok, we ate more than just fried food at the kiosks, we enjoyed several fine meals worth noting at kiosks with waitstaff. Some of the best meals were at La Parilla, Ay Bonito! Grill, Vejigante, and Ceviche Hut.

Ay Bonito! Grill is a fresh seafood place that is really the antithesis of all the fried food places around it. I don't even remember seeing anything fried on the menu--the traditional tostones, or fried green plantains at Ay Bonito are served mashed. I got halibut with hazelnuts and cilantro served with a local root vegetable mash.

Our last night in Puerto Rico, Tucker and I went to Vejigante and really indulged. We started with fried local cheese (see above) and then shared an entire deep fried fish (picture has mysteriously disappeared from my phone, I'm investigating) with a creole sauce and tostones. Paired with several mojitos, this was a good way to go out.

La Parilla seems to be the favorite kiosk for many locals, and I don't blame them. Tucker says his grilled and stuffed spiny lobster (above) was the highlight of the trip. The kiosk is the only one with a tank of live lobsters out front, you pick your prey and they grill it up. I got mofongo (a traditional Puerto Rican mash of plantains and casava) stuffed with churrasco. We ate a lot of mofongo on this trip, but La Parilla far and away had the best.

Yes, we ate raw fish from a place with "hut" in the name. In our defense, Ceviche Hut is one of the nicest kiosks on the strip AND the ceviche was the best we'd ever had. Tucker got the mixed ceviche with medium spice and it was heaven! Lime, cilantro, fresh fish, just the right amount of spice, mmmm.... I got fish in white sauce (yes, it was cooked) but that was also very very good.

What an amazing trip. We didn't spend the whole time eating, but I have to admit we spent a good deal of time thinking about what our next meal would be. Can you blame us?

The beach behind the kiosks

Summer Beet Salad: Two Ways

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:38:00 +0000

I love beets. And that's a good thing, because we get 1-2 bunches of beets every week for the majority of the summer during our farm share. We're in year three of this, so we've become pretty expert at cooking with beets (see Lena's Borscht which turned my mother into a beet believer), but the one dish we make most often with the beets is some sort of salad. So I wanted to post about some of the salads we've made because they are really yummy! They usually involve corn in addition to the beets because New England corn in the late summer is pretty much the best thing ever, and then whatever other vegetables we have from the farm share that seem appropriate.

I apologize in advance for not having exact proportions on anything, we really just used what we had around! I figure you can adjust this to your own tastes/pantries.

Golden Beet Salad With Corn, Cucumbers, And Feta

Salad

4-6 golden beets

6 ears of corn, cooked and taken off the cob

one bunch parsley

1 medium cucumber

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

1 small red onion

4-6 oz feta cut into small cubes

Dressing
Olive oil and fresh lemon juice in a 2:1 ratio (two parts olive oil to one part lemon juice)
1 clove minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Beet Salad With Goat Cheese And Sugar Snap Peas

Salad

4-6 beets

1 cup pine nuts, toasted

6-8 oz goat cheese

1 bunch sugar snap peas

small bunch of scallions

Dressing

Equal parts red wine vinegar and olive oil

1 clove of garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

Adventures in Cheesemaking

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:16:00 +0000

Tucker and I recently embarked on a really genius (or really stupid) adventure in cheesemaking. Tucker's mom recently gave us an awesome Mozzarella and Ricotta Cheese Making Kit and recipes from Ricki Carroll and we were so psyched! We love cheese! Who doesn't? Aren't all things better when they're homemade? That's our philosophy. So as cheese lovers and culinary adventurers, why not make cheese? Well, for one, we've learned that it's tricky. And that it requires equipment that we don't have. And it requires delayed gratification, which is well, really annoying.

I'm not trying to turn you off from making cheese, it was definitely fun, and hopefully will taste delicious (we won't know for another month or so), but just know before you start, this is a looooonnnng process. I think we spent at least 6 hours straight through just getting through to the first stage when the cheese dries out for a few days.

We started out making a farmhouse cheddar, so it won't be ready to taste for another month, BUT, here are some pictures documenting the process!

"Ripening" the milk via hot water in the sink.

The cheese ripens and starts to separate curds from whey!

The curds are cut into cubes.

Reheating the curds so they shrink and separate from the whey. We made the whey into ricotta. Yum.

Hanging the curds to dry.

Mmmm... I could deep fry these and eat them right up!

Curds are pressed into a mold...

And weight was put on it for a while...

Then more weight (we had to get creative here).

After being pressed for 24 hours, we bandaged the cheese in cloth, and left it on the counter to dry for a few days. Now it's in our cheese cave (basement)!

That's all for now! Check back in a few weeks when we find out if it's edible.

Sourdough Pretzels

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:52:00 +0000

Recently, Tucker has been doing a lot of experimenting with sourdough. We've had a strange, pulsing, smelly sourdough starter living in a mason jar in the kitchen for several weeks now. I'm willing to forgive this strange creature only because it leads to delicious creations! The latest was PRETZELS. Actually, they were easier to make than I expected, they are similar to bagels (which we've made in the past) but actually a bit easier.

Tucker was first inspired to try making pretzels when he read this Harold McGee article in the New York Times.

Sourdough Pretzels
With help from Mark Bittman, Harold McGee, and the King Arthur Baker's Companion

FOR THE SOURDOUGH SPONGE

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup bread flour

1 1/2 cups tepid water

Sourdough starter (We learned how to do this from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything--we use the iPhone app, you can also use the cookbook)

Instructions

The night before you are ready to make these, combine all ingredients in a food processor or bowl and mix until smooth. Cover and let rest overnight (it should bubble and foam a bit)
Scoop out a few cups of the dough to save for your next sourdough adventure. You can keep starter in the fridge unless you want to continue feeding it daily.

FOR THE DOUGH

Ingredients

1-1 1/2 cups bread flour

2 tsp salt

1 spoonful brown sugar

Sourdough sponge you just made
1 cup baking soda
2 cups water
Sea salt to taste

Instructions

Mix flour, salt, sugar, and sponge in the food processor
Pour out into a bowl and let rise for a few hours until doubled in volume
While the dough is rising, prepare the alkali (this is what gives the pretzel that special pretzel quality): spread a layer of soda on a foil-covered baking sheet and bake it at 250 to 300 degrees for an hour. Try not to touch it if you can (although it won't kill you)
Cut into 10-12 pieces, roll out, and form into ropes about 1/2 inch in diameter
Fold them into pretzels
Now is a good time to preheat the oven to 425.
Dissolve baked baking soda (the alkali) in the water
Immerse the formed raw pretzels in this solution for three to four minutes, rinse off the excess dipping solution in a large bowl of plain water
Place pretzels on a baking sheet and sprinkle the pretzels with sea salt
Bake at 425 for about 20 min (or until golden brown).

Asian Salad With Sesame Crusted Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Sat, 14 May 2011 01:49:00 +0000

This salad is actually much simpler than it looks, and it's so good! I like to think it's pretty healthy as well :)

Asian Salad With Sesame Crusted Chicken(adapted from Epicurious)

FOR THE CHICKEN
Ingredients
6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (1 1/2 lb total)
2 large eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup sesame seeds (we used a mixture of black and white seeds)
3 Tbs peanut oil
Pepper to taste

Preparation

If chicken breasts are more than 1/2 inch thick, put them between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and gently pound with flat side of a meat pounder or with a rolling pin until 1/2 inch thick.

Whisk together egg in a shallow dish. Put sesame seeds in another shallow dish. Put flour, salt, and pepper into a third dish. Dry the chicken on paper towels. Dip first in flour, salt and pepper mixture, then in egg, then in sesame seeds.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Reduce heat to moderate and cook 3 pieces of chicken, turning over once with tongs, until coating is golden and chicken is cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes, then transfer to a plate. Remove any browned sesame seeds from skillet, then cook remaining chicken.

FOR THE DRESSING
Ingredients

1 shallot

1 clove garlic

Juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup minced cilantro
2 Tbs toasted sesame oil

2 Tbs fish sauce

Preparation

Toss all ingredients in a salad dressing container.

FOR THE REST OF THE SALAD

Ingredients

Baby spinach

Sliced almonds, lightly toasted

1 red pepper, roasted and skinned

Instructions

Toss spinach, roasted red pepper, toasted almonds and slices of the sesame chicken with the dressing. Enjoy!

A Chinese And Mexican Restaurant? Who Knew!

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Dines) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 01:01:00 +0000

I'm back from my blogging hiatus and will be making a serious effort to keep this blog better up to date! With all the travelling I've been doing, it's been hard to keep up with this blog, along with the fact that I eat so few meals at home now! Well, one way to remedy this is to blog about the food I eat while I'm on the road. While it's not always the best food, I occasionally get the chance to try some really phenomenal restaurants... especially when I'm in Las Vegas!

For this trip, I was set on trying out China Poblano, one of Jose Andres' new restaurants at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, one of the newest hotels on the strip. I've never heard of anyone else doing Mexican and Chinese food together, and I was intrigued! When we arrived, I knew we had made a good choice. The front of the restaurant looks like Chinese and Mexican takeout counters, complete with neon OPEN signs that were completely incongruous with the rest of the Cosmopolitan. Once you get inside, the decor is frankly bizarre, but kinda awesome (there was a giant Mexican wrestling mask on the wall that was actually TV screen, so the images kept changing).

Everything is served Dim Sum style, and the tables are also long and communal with benches on either side. The menu, surprisingly, keeps most of the Mexican and Chinese food separate. I was hoping for more fusion, and my favorite dishes that we ordered were the ones that combined the tastes of the two cultures. My favorite dish of the evening (besides the dessert) were the Huitlicoche noodles (a Mexican dish) with Chinese spices (I don't remember what kind). It turns out (not that I knew this at the time) that Huitlicoche is a kind of mushroom that grows on corn! Sounds a little gross, but hey, it was good! My colleague really enjoyed his Dan Dan noodles as well. The Chicken Ji Song, chicken in lettuce cups with fried sweet potatoes and a spicy asian sauce, were also very good. My favorite thing, however, was the dessert. We got the Chocolate Terra Cotta Warriors caramelized bananas/sesame which were not only very cool to look at, but delicious! I've never had sesame and chocolate together before, and it's a great combo. The sesame was blended so it didn't have the same texture as it normally would.

What ever possessed Jose Andres to create a Chinese and Mexican restaurant is beyond me, but it somehow makes sense when you're in there. Right on the menu, it says "What brings Mexico and China together? You could start with the Spanish galleons that first sailed the Pacific in 1565 in the reign of King Philip II. Along with the lucrative trade in silk and silver, they brought Asian spices and fruit to Mexico, and New World peppers to the Middle Kingdom of China. They also brought the legend of an Asian girl kidnapped by pirates and shipped to Mexico, known as La China Poblana. These dishes continue a voyage, first dreamed by Christopher Columbus, that has connected East and West for the last five centuries."

Overall, was it the best Mexican or Chinese food I've ever had? No. But the restaurant is fun, has a great ambiance, it reasonably priced, and definitely worth checking out if you're in Las Vegas.