Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Guiness Cupcakes


A little late, but they look good. Let us know if you try them! Lars?

Monday, February 25, 2008

Taste of Tuscany...maybe.


So, there's this great Italian restaurant just around the corner from my apartment called Trattoria Toscana. Last time we went with my family, we all agreed that their gnocchi with gorgonzola cream sauce was wonderful. Rather than continuing to go back for the slightly pricey dish, I decided to try and replicate it at home (for much cheaper, of course). Here goes:

Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce:

1 lb Gnocchi
8 oz Gorgonzola (crumbled or chopped)
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup dry Vermouth
1 medium onion (chopped)*
4-5 button or baby portabella mushrooms (halved and sliced thin)*
EVOO to saute onions and mushrooms with*

1. cook gnocchi according to package directions
2. sweat onions, add mushrooms and sautee
3. add vermouth and simmer until it is half the original volume
4. add cream and bring to boil
5. reduce to simmer and melt in cheese
6. once melted, add cooked gnocchi and simmer for 5-7 minutes to absorb sauce
7. serve with some good bread and enjoy!

*Note: the onions and mushrooms are completely optional and I'm not sure I would use them if I made this again. They add a nice taste, but I think they disrupt the texture of the sauce and inhibit sauce soakage if dipping bread. Instead you could substitute 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (as this is how the restaurant does it) and add them after the cheese is melted.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

How old are your spices?

A quick how-to on making sure your spices are fresh. For those of you smart enough to buy from Penzeys, you probably know most of this already.

From Lifehacker:

That jar of paprika might have lasted you through college, but is it still fresh? The Unclutterer organization blog rounds up helpful links to freshness checkers that decode the numbers and letters that replace actual dates on some containers.


Link

Monday, January 7, 2008

Apple Dumplings (with requisite milk, of course). Plus: BONUS BISCUIT RECIPE! WOO HOO!


Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Things have been busy to say the least. But that doesn't mean I haven't had time to cook. Julie and I made these dumplings just the other day, and they are wonderful. Easy to make, that taste wonderful, and they're good for you! Okay, they're okay for you. Still better than a Twinkie, right? At least apple is a fruit! And there are raisins. Oh forget it, here we go:

First off, this recipe (adapted from Bon Appetite), calls for using "purchased refrigerated uncooked flaky biscuits (from 16.3-oz. tube)". Kurt the Aggressor doesn't roll that way. I'll put the biscuit recipe I used at the end of the main recipe.

4 apples, peeled (they said Golden Delicious, I think I like Granny Smith as they are more solid)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
3 Tbs cream (I used 1/2&1/2)
Biscuit dough (see below)
1 large egg, beaten

1. Prehead oven to 400F. Use a melon baller (neat trick) to core apples, leaving bottoms intact. (The bottoms intact keep the stuff from coming out and make wrapping them easier. We didn't do this correctly, but things were still okay, although messy). Microwave in dish at 50% for 10 minutes. Refrigerate for 5 to cool.

2. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon. Transfer 3 Tbs cinnamon sugar to saucepan, add 3 Tbs 1/2&1/2 (or cream) and the raisins and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved.

2 1/2. They then add 3 Tbs of the cinnamon sugar to a cup of cream and whip it to make cinnamon whip cream. I would rather just have the dumplings plain or at least with plain whip cream.

3. Roll out your biscuits on a floured surface. If you're slow to roll, work with a little at a time (especially if you made homemade dough), otherwise it will get too soft and start to get sticky on you. Roll it as thin as you feel comfortable with without ripping it (I think I got around 1/8 inch, but I'm pretty good...ahem, ahem). Moving on. Get about an 8in piece for each apple, brush it lightly with the egg, and place your apple in the center. Fill it with raisins until it's a little overflowing and wrap up your apple. They say to fold in the corners and make a cute little stem on top, but it'll look the same no matter what, so save yourself the time. Just make sure you press on the seals to make them leak proof.

4. Put the apples on a baking sheet, brush the outside with egg, and sprinkle plenty of cinnamon sugar on them. Bake until brown (~ 18 min according to them, although mine took closer to 22).

I love the wonderful mixture of apple, cinnamon, raisins, brown sugar, and butter (from MY biscuits, i.e. no shortening). I'm sure there's someone out there who will want to omit the raisins. Don't do it. They belong there. Use this as a lesson in learning to love foods you think you don't like. It's important.

Okay, here's the biscuits (bastardized from Good Housekeeping, among others):

2 cups AP flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter (chilled)
3/4 cup milk
(~2 Tbs sugar for this recipe, omit if just making biscuits)

1. Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter until they look like coarse crumbles. I use the food processor. Dry ingedients, whiz. Butter, whiz, whiz, whiz. I guess you could use a pastry cutter or knives, but why? (By the way, "whiz" is the official word for the noise the food processor makes.)

2. Add milk all at once. Whiz! Stop mixing as soon as everything comes together. There will be pockets of butter, wetter and drier parts, etc. Awesome! That's what makes everything so good!

3. That's it. Follow the recipe above. If you want biscuits, roll these babies out to about a 1/2 inch, cut 'em out to any size/shape you'd like and bake 12-15 minutes in a 450F oven. I like them with honey, it makes me feel British.

Happy baking!

Update: I realized two things immediately after posting this. One, two apple cinnamon things in a row. Sorry, that's just how it happens. Second, Jeshica just wrote about a husband that hated raisins. The raisin comment above wasn't directed at him or anyone else. I don't want to start a raisin-lovers vs. raisin-haters flame war on the comments. I just think we should all try to learn to like something new every year. What a nice achievable New Year's (next) goal. Barring this, this blog will continue its non-discrimination policy for raisin haters but continue its more general discrimination policy against people who hate any kind of food. Peace and Happy New Year!