Doing my taxes

I decided quite firmly that I would buckle down and do my taxes this weekend. So far I've done my laundry, cleaned my house including scrubbing down the kitchen cabinets, attended a craft show, rolled around on my sofa, made my bed well enough to shame most hotels, cooked up a storm, delivered some of the results to my parents, made my dad some new business cards, and still haven't started those taxes yet. I still have time right? The day is still young. Wait, that's why I decided to blog...

What started the cooking storm was the pie challenge this week. I live alone so I didn't really want to make a giant sweet pie and have it hanging around the house. In honor of my buddy Wendy, one of the finest cooks I know, I've decided to make HAND PIES! I had some ground turkey to use up. For those of you who consider ground turkey bland no matter the spicing up you do, consider my trick. I mix 3 parts turkey with 1 part ground buffalo. Its a considerably healthier mix than pure ground beef while the turkey keeps it economical (buffalo is pricey!) while being just as tasty as beef in most uses (ie meatballs, meatloaf, burgers, chili etc). I wanted a real texture storm so I added in some ground dried peas (they sell them to use in trail mixes as a snack) to stiffen the meat patties, created a sort of mushroom duxelle to go on top for a little softness and luxury feel to the tongue, and wrapped the whole in flaky layers of phyllo. Your teeth sink into a little crunch then the satisfying firmness of the patties mixes with the mushroom and oh my they are addictive. I ate one to try then ran back to the kitchen for another.



After all that savory goodness, I knew I'd want a little sweet but no longer felt like going through a lot of effort so I whipped up an Earl Grey (in honor of my buddy Vicki and her Earl Grey obsession) creme brulee on the stove top. These are not as creamy perfect as the oven/water bath version but very good on its own when you don't feel like starting up the oven again.



For dinner and for my mom who likes ribs and my dad who eyes them hungrily (he has a heart condition and can't really pig out on them any more) I used country ribs in the oven. They have some bone in them so my mom likes them but are meatier and less fatty so my dad will have some as well. These are fall off the bone delicious and lets you dream of summer BBQ's with a ton of flavor yet almost no effort. Give them a try in the wintry months.



Mushroom and Turkey Hand Pie

For the patties:
1 lb ground turkey
1/4 lb ground buffalo
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 cup shaoxing wine (sherry will also do)
2 Tblsp brown sugar
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 tsp minced ginger
1 Tblsp Chao Siu sauce (optional)
1/3 c ground peas

Mix all together. Form into tiny slider sized patties and cook on grill pan (or in my case a Cusinart Griddler Jr) until just slightly under done. Set aside to cool.

For duxelle:
16 oz baby bella finely minced(any mix of mushrooms will do here)
1 tsp ground sage
2 Tblsp cooking wine
2 Tblsp heavy cream

In a wide flat pan (the wider, the better as liquid will evaporate faster) on high heat add a little bit of butter. When it warms, add in the mushroom and cook until it releases its liquid. Add wine and sage. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add cream and cook just a minute of so more until it thickens into a mushroom paste almost. Set aside to cool to room temp.

Assemble:
1/2 box phyllo dough (store bought)
room temp duxelle
room temp patties
1 can butter flavor oil mist

Lay flat a sheet of phyllo lying. Mist with butter spray. Lay another sheet on top. Mist. Place patty about 1/3 of the way in the long way and right in the middle the short way. Add a generous Tblsp of the duxelle on top. Fold the short side over it then one long side down and the other up so its now a strip with the patty pocketed in one end. Mist with more butter spray. Roll the patty down until you end up with a nice neat packet. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 350F for about 20 - 25 mins until golden brown on top.

Stove Top Earl Grey Creme Brulee

1 packet Earl Grey tea
2 cups heavy cream
4 egg yolks
2 Tblsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla
Sugar to brulee on top. I highly recommend turbinado. I didn't have any this time and my brulee job suffered for it.

Beat egg yolks and sugar in a heat safe bowl. Heat cream until boiling with tea bag. Take off heat and let steep for 5 mins. Squeeze out and remove tea bag. Return to a boil. Add cream a little at a time at first to temper eggs while beating then add it all in. Place bowl on top of a pot of boiling water double boiler style and stir occasionally until it thickly coats a spoon. Take off heat and add vanilla. Pour through a strainer into ramekins. Chill over night. When ready to eat sprinkle with sugar on top and torch until golden but not burnt.

Oven Baked Country Ribs

4lbs country style ribs (these are meaty and more pork chop than rib but this recipe will work just as well for baby back and regular ribs)
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tblsp chili powder
5 tsp salt
2 tsp dried minced garlic
2 tsp dried minced onion
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp five spice powder

On a large piece of foil lay out the ribs in a single layer. Mix everything else together in a bowl and sprinkle/rub thickly on top. Flip the layer and do the same for the other side. Fold up the foil into a sealed packet. I generally do two layers of foil because I am constantly tearing the stuff but this is not strictly necessary. Place in 200F oven for 3-4 hours (if you're doing real ribs you might need more like 6). When cooked through, remove ribs and you'll notice all those spices and sugar have become this great pool of sauce now in the foil. Pour out into a small pot and boil until thick. Use to coat ribs or on the side as dipping sauce. If it tastes a bit too sweet for you, try cutting it with a little bit of cider vinegar right at the end.

Bargaining for my vacation time

So I had to pass on this week's puff pastry challenge. Instead I spend my time creating a fabulous cake to fulfill my manager's blackmail whims. Apparently, I do not take enough vacation. This is probably true. In order to "encourage" me to take more vacation time off, my boss has decided to refuse all vacation requests under a week long. I just want 3 days off to spend in upper NY with my gal Beany. What to do? Why not turn my obsession to my advantage and bribe my boss? She has an insatiable love of chocolate, peanut butter, and my pastry creations. I offered a PB Chocolate Cake. My vacation time has been approved! (Mind you she never would've really refused, she's much too nice to ever say no. This was done more in good jest.)



Its going to my office so I haven't cut into it yet but I can tell you straight off the cake inside is sinfully dark chocolate and if the batter I tasted proves anything, it will be incredibly delicious.

PB Chocolate Cake

Cake:

2 cups sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 vanilla bean, cut in half and seeds removed
2 eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup brewed coffee
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 325F.

Beat sugar and butter together until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs. Mix. Dissolve cocoa in coffee and add. Mix. Sift together flour, bk soda, salt, and bk powder. Add in half the dry mix and 1/2 cup milk. Mix until just wet. Add in the rest of the dry mix and milk and mix until its fully combined. Batter will be smooth. Pour into two 9 inch pans (I lightly oiled my silicone ones but if you have metal I recommend oiling, adding parchment cut to the size of the pan bottom, and oiling the parchment.)

Bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Fully cool in the pans. Freeze over night or for as long as you have time for but at least an hour. This makes for easy frosting and no need for a crumb coat.

Frosting:

1 cup peanut butter (the creamy and not natural kind)
1 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk

Mix PB, butter, and vanilla together until creamy. Add powdered sugar and mix slowly. Add a tsp of milk at a time to loose the frosting until its spreadable. Be careful not to add too much. Take frozen cakes out of pan. Frost.

I added chopped mix of mini dark and milk chocolate Reeses cups to the side of mine for extra oomph but this isn't strictly necessary. Does make for a pretty picture though right?

Anticipating dinner

I've been a little veggie deprived of late thanks to the whole frozen north east thing but my recent trip to Russo's stalked me up with some favs. Simmering in the crock at home are some leeks, beets, carrots, and short rib in a korean bbq sauce. I've always figured short ribs to be better the next day so it'll hit the fridge when I get home for easy de-fatting the next day. Then I generally puree the veggies into the sauce (cooked down if there's too much) and top with the short ribs. Of course this whole process ends up with ultimate deliciousness but ruins the beauty of the veggies so I thought I'd give them their moment in the sun.

Meeting the bean challege

This week's food challenge was beans. Having long since been a fan of Fasolia Gigantes and dying to make my own. The wee jars where I'd had my first taste from Trader Joe's were great but they were also pricey and well, wee. Being the piglet I am, that just wouldn't do so I set out to create my own. I acquired my own baggie of dried gigantes, read up on several recipes, checked my cupboards and settled for the following:



They are creamy and delicious. Not quite as buttery as the jarred version but I suspect that's because I cut way down on the standard recipe amount of oil in an attempt for some calorie control however I think the flavors were much better. More vibrant and addictive.

Fasolia Gigante

500 grams dried gigantes
2 bay leaves
1 onion finely diced
2 carrots finely diced
2 tsp chopped garlic
1.5 tsp oregano
1.5 tsp thyme
2 oz grape seed oil (olive is traditional but I didn't have it)
28 oz canned diced tomato
1.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp pepper
2 tsp sugar
0.5 cup chicken broth (you can probably use veggie as well to keep this vegetarian)

Soak gigantes over night.

Add gigantes to pot with 2 bay leaves and cover with enough water to be 2 inches over the top of the beans. Simmer for about an hour until tender. (I used a crock pot on high and left the house to do some errands here.) Drain beans, reserving a cup of the bean water.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Heat oil in a wide oven safe pot (I used my giant oval dutch oven for this) and add
onions, carrots, garlic, oregano, and thyme. Saute for about 10 minutes until onions are translucent.

Add can of tomato, salt, pepper, and sugar. Simmer for another 30 minutes until sauce is reduced and thickened. Add drained beans and broth. Stir up a bit and stick into oven. At about the 30 minute mark I take it out and stir it up a bit. If it looks like its drying out add in some of the reserved bean water. Bake for another 30 minutes. Take out and cool. This is great served luke warm as an appetizer or snack.

Foodie Shopping Frenzy

Its amazing what an expiring groupon can spawn. I had purchased one sometime last year for The Meat House in Brookline, thinking that it would be interesting to see a real upscale butchery. Since am email came telling me the sucker was about to expire, I figured it was high time to find out and since I would have to make the drive through crazy city traffic to get there anyway, it might as well be worth my while. So began the planning on the great foodie shopping frenzy.

Since I am me, aka slightly ocd and overly in love with tech I first looked up all the places I've been meaning to go but haven't because its clear across the other side of Boston and I abhor city driving. I then google mapped them all, moving around the destinations as necessary until I had found the most time/distance efficient route through them all. Then I punched them all in proper order into my GPS.

The first stop was meant to be The Meat House but on the way there I passed by TJ's. Unable to resist and figuring it would save me a visit to the health food store in Quincy Center later for a refill of my beloved Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, I stopped by. After stocking up on that as well as some baggies of frozen fruit and the frozen tamales I so love, I browsed around a bit and found some awesome new goodies. Frozen leeks! Frozen asparagus spears! In the cart they went and out the door I went.

The Meat House was a great little shoppe. A little TOO upscale almost to feel like a butcher shop. It was more of a specialty shop with a frozen section boasting such yummies as venison loin, calf's live, and duck breast. The glass cases were filled with a selection of beef with such expensive delicacies as kobe and aged and manned by friendly guys who definitely knew their stuff. I watched as they talked customers through selecting cuts to simple cooking directions to pairing with side dishes and wines available in shop. There was also a wide selection of sausages and to the side, pre-marinated in easy to tote home baggies of poultry and steak tips. I've always been a fan of seasoning my own food. One person's delicious is another's too salty. The shelves were full of seasoning and sauce choices as well as anything you might need to complete a restaurant worthy meal including pasta, rice for risotto's, cheeses, wine, sides, and PICKLES! Unable to resist I picked out a jar of fancy pickles, had the nice man pull me a rib eye steak, a couple of short ribs, and grabbed a frozen alligator steak from the fridge.

Next I headed up towards one of my old favorites, Babushka's Deli. There I indulged in a craving I've been having for months now, salmon caviar. Its not the fancy beluga stuff but I personally like it. A bit briny and paired with some of the shop's russian style sour cream (extra creamy, extra fat!, and not so sour), its heaven on a blini. Along with this insanity I also picked up a half pound of head cheese. The kindly russian aunty (they will always feel like one to me with their warm smiles at the crazy asian) pointed out they had three kinds and when I asked which was the best, immediately grabbed the medium with what appeared to be big chunks of cheek meat embedded in clear collagen gel. None of the usual mystery organs and gristle I was used to. Back in the car again I sneaked a slice as I was beginning to starve. I immediately regretted my purchase. The meat was tender and the collagen soup wonderfully spiced. I should've gotten more! Since I was already well on my way to becoming the piggy it was likely created from I reluctantly moved on.

Maneuvering the unfamiliar streets of Belmont I found a treasure I had long since wanted to visit first hand after hearing the many murmurings of its greatness: Sophia's Greek Pantry. In it I found the one ingredient I wanted to meet this week's food challenge, gigante beans. They are giant white butter beans. I had first tasted them in small glass jars from Trader Joe. They are tender and made for a delicious snack at room temp. I wanted to make my own but had been unable to find the beans. They are pricey but I hoped, worth it. Since I was in the supposedly greatest of greek shops, I purchased as well baklava, moussaka, stuffed grape leaves, and their own home made yogurt. I can tell you now that while the first three did not compare to my friend's greek mom's home made deliciousness, they were miles above anything I've had around here in restaurants no matter how fancy or high the price tag. The yogurt however is worth the trek. Its less tangy and more creamy than anything sold in the supermarkets. I see myself crying a little when I'm down to the last bite.

For my last stop, I could not resist re-visiting and old favorite: Russo and Sons Market. Around here, especially in the winter frozen absence of farmer's markets, good produce is hard to come by. There's always Whole Foods but frankly, I don't eat that much and still my pay check isn't big enough to cover the bill. Russo has what I consider to be even better quality and certainly a much better variety. Its produce also seems less perfect waxed and fake. I had been dying for some delicious veggies so I stocked up. Rutabagas, beets, apples, asian pears, melons, chard, tiny fingerling potatoes of all kinds, squash and more. I also picked up a slab of afghan flat bread and a small wedge of real pecorino romano (its cheese and bakery selections are fantastic btw as are fresh flowers should you need some).

Having filled my trunk I headed home with happy thoughts of fatness to come. I'm going to have to step up my work outs...

Just starting out

I have been a long time admirer of foodie blogs, esp the ones with pictures so beautiful you drool as you stare then, just as your NEED for JUST. ONE. LITTLE. TASTE. ratchets up to unbearable you scroll down and see a recipe! It inspires. You quickly jot down a list of ingredients and fly for the nearest store forgetting the laundry spinning forlornly in the dryer and the leaping over the little robotic vacuum choking on its attempts to clean the remnants of your last experiment from the thick pile carpet. I hope to do those blogs justice.

I'm sure it'll take a while. Hopefully those of you who happen by will give me a few tips here and there as well as try out a thing or two of your own. My food isn't always beautiful and my photography skills often only make it worse but I guarantee you its tasty! I like trying more wild, bizarre, alternative foods. I also like adapting recipes in an attempt to make them just a tad healthier but without sacrificing the original deliciousness.