Catching Up

OK, it's been a busy year and I have cooked and experimented the whole time, and even taken some fairly unsatisfactory photos of the recipes.

About this time last year I was determined to make a fancy cake for my neice's birthday, complete with fondant and at least one tier.

I started small with a stacked cake for a friend's birthday. The cake was supposed to look like two presents that featured a fondant bow on the top. I used Wilton colored fondant for the decorations. First I ran them through my pasta machine then cut them into strips. I formed a bow and curly ribbons. To keep the bow from collapsing I just used crumpled foil inside each of the loops. for the curly ribbons I wrapped small strips around the left over dowels (from the stacking.) It took more than a day to dry and I was lucky I allowed enough time.



I wanted to try a topsy turvey cake so I tried my hand when we had a casual family get together. Sad, very sad. Cracked fondant and strangely shaped cake layers. I'm afraid to post a picture for fear it would be featured on the Cake Wrecks site ! Here's a video tutorial from Janelle's Cakes and the post from egullet that shows what I used as a guide and goes into great detail. I didn't use the plastic pieces he refers to though.


I was getting so many wonderful ideas from Pink Cake Box and was sure that my neice would want something fancy - maybe with feathers. Finally my neice's party was planned. She had picked a the signature design from Pink Cake Box. I was slightly releived that she picked a simpler cake than I had envisioned and I managed a decent amateur version.




I made my own fondant from marshmallows. It tasted better than the Wilton stuff and was considerably cheaper. The dark brown got a bit sticky with all the food coloring I had to add.

A big new (Wilton) rolling pin and cutting board worked great for getting the sheets of fondant the right thickness. We all had fun making the ribbon roses.
There was plenty of cake left over and one of my neice's friends was having her family birthday the next day. We sent her off with the bottom teir decorated with extra ribbon roses. My attitude towards cake of this type is that they are craft projects. Once their function (edible party centerpiece) is fulfilled then it's OK to toss the cake out. It's preferable to applying it to my hips! Everyone was glad we didn't have to this time.

In July I cooked for my dog, and made some really cute cupcakes for people too. I got the idea from Family Circle and their website has a full tutorial. The hardest part of the procedure was finding the mini M&Ms. Finally I found them in the baking aisle. I had been looking in with the candy. The tongues are my favorite part. I was lucky to have left over fondant but the recipe calls for flattened out Starbursts.

At Easter a guest brought a lovely rendition of tiramisu. She said there was no recipe, but this is how she does it: take the lady fingers lay them in a 13 x 9 pan and drizzle the espresso oover. She says this lets them soak up more espresso. Make up some Oetker vanilla pudding. This may be the trickiest part - finding the German pudding. I was able to locate a package at Whole Foods. Spread some of the pudding over the lady fingers. Put on another layer of lady fingers, drizzle with espresso and add the pudding. The whole thing should be refrigerated overnight. Before serving she sprinkled with hazelnuts and decorated with jellybean eggs.

We had a BBQ for a casual Easter gathering so I made my mom's secret potato salad that everyone loves. When I asked her for her secret recipe she showed me the back of the Best Foods Mayonaise jar and told me she added some mustard seed and celery seed. Here's the oh so secret recipe:

CLASSIC POTATO SALAD

1 cup BEST FOODS Real Mayonnaise

(I use 1/2 cup first and see if it's the right consistency before adding more)

2 tablespoon vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Pepper

4 cups Potatoes (5 to 6 medium) -cooked, cubed, peeled

1 cup Sliced celery

1/2 cup Chopped onion

2 Hard-cooked eggs, chopped

1/2 teaspoon each celery seed and mustard.

Combine mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, sugar and pepper. While still hot Stir in potatoes and remaining ingredients. Cover; chill. Makes 5 cups.

Yes We Have no Crab Louie

A trip to Fresno brought the promise of a traditional crab louie! In the olden days every coffee shop in the Los Angeles area offered a crab louie. When I came back from Boston in the early 80's they had disappeared off the face of the earth. There's a retro restaurant in Fresno that has them now so we made a special trip with our mouths watering, visions of giant crab chunks dancing in our heads. :( The crab delivery didn't come so they were out of crab ... sniff. The restaurant was really cool though and the weather was perfect. We watched the blossoms fall like snow. Their outdoor patio features a heated stone floor and a combo fireplace/waterfall/fountain. I had actually made traditional Crab Louie last week so I wasn't too freaked. Here's how I do it:

Lettuce, avocado wedges, tomato wedges, asparagus spears, black olives, hard boiled egg wedges and of course huge hunks of crab all festooned with thousand island dressing. I found a copycat recipe for Thousand Island Dressing that imitates Kraft. I had everything, otherwise I would have just used Kraft Thousand Island Dressing.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon white vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish

1 teaspoon finely minced white onion

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 dash of black pepper
Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well. Place dressing in a covered container and refrigerate for several hours, stirring occasionally, so that the sugar dissolves and the flavors blend.

My sister and I are on the salad bandwagon -another stab at Weight Watchers. We love Chinese Chicken Salad. Back in the 80's this was quite cutting edge. Way back then department stores used to have restaurants right in them. The Broadway (before Macy's took over the world!) had my favorite version in their restaurant. Here's how I recreate this long lost treasure:

Chinese Chicken Salad

2 chicken breasts
1 TB chinese red pepper paste

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 garlic clove crushed

1 TB oil

1/4 cup slivered almonds

2 Tb sesame sticks (or fried wonton skins)

1 can mandarin oranges

1 bag romaine or spinach leaves

1 bottle Joey D's Chinese Chicken Salad Dressing (I've never been able to match it)

green onions and sesame seeds

Slice chicken and combine next 3 ingredients. Heat oil and saute chicken. Toss greens with dressing to taste. Add remaining ingredients.

Really Good Chili - No Beans

Alton Brown had a great chili recipe a while back and I tested it on my SO who actually liked it! Yay! I had been sticking to a concoction for years and usually added beans to be healthy but this had no beans, did have chipotle and homemade chili powder. The first time I made it I included the lamb the recipe called for. Didn't care for the flavor with everything else. Left it out on the second round.

Here's the way I actually made the chili:

3 pounds stew meat (beef, and pork)

2 teaspoons peanut oil

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 (12-ounce) bottle of beer, preferably a medium ale

1 (16-ounce) container salsa

2 chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped

1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers in adobo)

1 tablespoon chili powder (see homemade recipe below)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Place the meat in a large mixing bowl and toss with the peanut oil and salt. Set aside.
Heat a slow cooker on high until hot. Add the meat in 3 or 4 batches to a large skillet and brown on all sides, approximately 2 minutes per batch. Once each batch is browned, place the meat in a clean large bowl. Once all of the meat is browned, add the beer to the skillet to deglaze it. Scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the meat back to cooker along with the salsa, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, chili powder, and ground cumin and stir to combine. Put on the lid and watch until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 3-4 hours. Remove from the heat and carefully release the steam. Serve immediately.

AB's Chili Powder
3 ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced

3 cascabel chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced

3 dried arbol chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced

2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon paprika

Place all of the chiles and the cumin into a medium nonstick saute pan or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, moving the pan around constantly, until you begin to smell the cumin toasting, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Set aside and cool completely.
Once cool, place the chiles and cumin into the carafe of a blender along with the garlic powder, oregano, and paprika. Process until a fine powder is formed. Allow the powder to settle for at least a minute before removing the lid of the carafe. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Fancy Schmancy Multi Course Dinner for New Year’s Eve

We decided at the last minute to have people over for New Year’s Eve. I had a Costco Christmas so I kind of wanted to cook. Since we were only having two couples over I thought I could go swanky and have multiple courses. Here’s the menu:

Cocktail
Bellinis

Appetizers

Pastry Bites with feta and caramelized onions
Cucumber with smoked salmon and dill cream cheese


Soup Course
Shrimp Bisque
Homemade Onion Rolls

Salad
Spring Greens with raspberries and sugared pecans with raspberry vinaigrette

Entree
Stone Crab Claws
Thyme and Salt Crusted Prime Rib
Green Beans with Shallots and Almonds
Double Stuffed Red Potatoes

Dessert Trio
Tiny Rum Cakes
Peppermint Mousse in Chocolate Cups
Cherry Tarts

I had been watching the food channel non-stop and must have seen Giada De Laurentis make three or four kinds of Bellinis. They looked easy and since they were made with champagne it seemed like a perfect New Year’s Eve drink. I assigned S.O. to the pureeing of the peaches. Not so smooth. Chunky bellinis are not the new taste sensation! I don’t think Giada chews hers. Later I found this 3 2 1 recipe for bellinis which I tested at a friend’s house. They have sophisticated taste so they weren’t fans but I liked it. 3 parts champagne, 2 parts peach nectar (I used well pureed peaches) and 1 part peach schnapps.

I got the idea of crab claws stuck in my head. Bristol Farm had king crab claws for $39 a pound! Ummm out of my league but the stone crab claws were actually affordable. They looked nice but didn’t come out of the shells! New Years Day I boiled them with some Old Bay seasoning and the crab came out much easier when they were warm.

I made the shrimp bisque from scratch. It took more time than it was really worth. I didn’t want that canned soup taste though.

Shrimp Bisque
· 1 Tablespoon butter
· ¼ cup onion, finely diced
· ¼ cup celery, finely diced
· ¼ cup carrot, finely diced
· 1 15-ounce can tomatoes, cut up in pieces (use the juice for another dish)
· 2 Tablespoons olive oil
· 1 pound shrimp in the shell
· 1 tsp Old Bay
· 1 Bay leaf
· 1 tsp thyme
· 1 tsp Emeril’s Essence
· 5 cups water
· 4 Tablespoons raw rice
· 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
· ½ cup heavy cream
· salt and pepper
· ½ cup Sherry

In a skillet, sauté the onion, celery, and carrot in the butter for 5 minutes, until the vegetable are soft, not brown. Add the tomato pieces and sauté for another 5 minutes. Scrape out into a bowl and reserve. In the same pan, heat the olive oil then add the whole shrimp and water. Cook until the shells are red about 4-5 minutes. Peel the cooled shrimp, separating the shells and the meat, and toss the shells into the cooking soup. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat and, partially covered, simmer for 20 minutes. When the soup has finished cooking, puree in a blender, solids first (take out the shells), then strain back into the pot. Take half of the reserved shrimp, puree them in the blender (slowly adding enough hot stock to completely emulsify them)--and pour them into the pot. Enrich the soup by whisking in the softened butter the cream and the Sherry, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Let sit, for flavors to blend, until ready to serve. When ready to serve, sauté the remaining shrimp. Ladle the soup into bowls, top with the shrimp.
I made my old standby onion rolls. These are made like cinnamon rolls only using caramelized onions. I think they were a hit.

Poppy-Seed Caramelized Onion Rolls
Dough
1 TB sugar
¼ cup warm water
1 envelope active dry yeast
½ cup buttermilk
3 TB room temp butter
1 egg
1 ½ tsp salt
2 ½ - 3 cups flour

I dump everything into my bread maker and let it rise for an hour.

Filling
2 TB unsalted butter
2 TB vegetable oil
2 medium sized onions – chopped
1 TB poppy seeds

Heat oil and butter. Add onion and sauté on low stirring constantly for 20-30 minutes until the onions turn slightly tan. Let cool.

Roll out dough on floured surface into 16 x 10 inch rectangle. Spread with onion filling leaving ½ inch border along one long edge. Starting with long side where filling is even with the edge, roll dough up jelly roll style. Pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 rolls. Dental floss works great for this. If you want smaller rolls make the roll longer and skinnier and cut more than 12. Let them rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Cook at 350° for 15 minutes or until golden. Cooking time varies on the size of the rolls.

It seems that I always add candied pecans to my salads. I have a great way to candy pecans that I perfected in the office microwave.

Take ½ cup pecans cover with water and drain. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and mix in.
Microwave for a minute or two. Watch it carefully or it will burn. When the sugar boils take out and stir and check the syrup. When it reaches hard crack stage pour out the nuts onto foil (Quick Release is wonderful). Cool and you’re done!

SO cooked the prime rib to perfection with a salt and thyme crust.

For dessert I wanted to use a Christmas present of tiny bundt pans so I made rum cakes in them. My recipe is very easy because it uses a cake mix. The little cakes have more surface area to absorb the butter rum sugar mixture than a big cake.

Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
½ cup each rum, water, oil
4 eggs
1 small package instant vanilla pudding mix (I didn’t have this and the cakes came out fine – with the pudding they would have been moister of course)
½ cup chopped walnuts

Mix everything together and pour into greased pans. Sprinkle with walnuts. Bake at 325 for 60 minutes in a large bundt pan. 15 minutes in the tiny pans

Rum Sauce
Heat 1 cup sugar, ½ cup butter and ½ cup rum until the sugar dissolves. Pour over hot cake(s)

After the cake(s) has absorbed the syrup unmold them. I made a crunch crust by baking the little cakes for about 5 minutes. They were very addictive since they were so small.



Peppermint Mousse Cups
Ingredients:
· 1 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (¾ cup chocolate melts and ¾ cup dark chocolate chips worked great for me)
· 1/2 cup white vanilla baking chips
· 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
· 1 cup whipping cream
· 2 drops of red food color
· 2 tablespoons crushed candy canes (about 6 miniature candy canes)
Directions:
Line 24 mini muffin cups with petit four paper cups. I melt chocolate in the microwave. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of the chocolate into each paper cup. I have some chocolate molds that work well too. With back of small measuring spoon, spread chocolate up sides to within 1/8 inch of the top. Chocolate should be warm enough to spread. Refrigerate about 20 minutes or until completely set.
Meanwhile, in a small microwavable bowl, microwave vanilla baking chips uncovered on High for 1 minute. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the whipping cream, microwave about 30 seconds longer or until chips are melted. Stir in peppermint extract and food color. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Carefully remove paper cups from chocolate cups, or un mold the chocolate from molds.
In a medium bowl beat remaining whipping cream with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold melted vanilla chip mixture into whipped cream. Spoon or pipe whipped cream mixture into chocolate cups. Refrigerate until serving. Just before serving sprinkle with candy.
I actually made these without the white chocolate the first time – couldn’t find the recipe at a critical moment.I used a bit of gelatin, diluted with water, to keep them set up. They were very light and airy.