Friday, January 27, 2012

Dinner with Strangers (and how to make kale chips, mushroom soup and bread gushers)

I've been committed to beautiful food photos and well-thought recipes through my 7 months of blogging. Today I have a story of imperfect food and the perfect meal. We had a couple guys we had never met over for dinner this week. Here's how it came to be, in a nutshell:

I read an article in the Duluth newspaper about a guy named Adam that's spending the month of January in Duluth and blogging about his experience. Being a ginormous fan of Duluth, I immediately went to the blog site and left an exuberant message expressing my adoration for this city. The second I hit "post" I kicked myself for not thinking to invite him to dinner but, oh well. A couple days later, I'm at the Duluth Art Institute's Member Exhibition opening and I see this guy in bright plaid and I immediately knew it was Adam, the Duluth blogger. I proceeded to nose into what he was doing to introduce myself and express additional excitement for Duluth and blogging. In no time he reads my mind and invites himself to dinner, which I accept (with additional exuberance). I really love cooking for people more than most things in life, so I'm pumped.

My dinner plan is kale chips, creamy mushroom and winter vegetable soup and a yeast bread roll that bakes up super quick and is awesomely easy and delicious (recipes below). My blog concept -the idea being we are doing a guest blogger kind of thing- is how to whip up a super yummy meal on a typical school night in my home (in January, in Duluth).

Adam and his guest are running a little late and the soup gets off to a swimming start in peace while my girls get dolled up. Then bring on the guests, all smiles and chatter and at times a big black mic near the face (the only source of mild discomfort for the night). Adam and his friend, Jack, are dream dinner guests. Comfortable, funny and not the least bit shy, they jumped right into the circus that is my girls and doubled the decibels in the house before their snappy shoes were off.

It would be a stretch to say this was a typical evening meal for us. Generally this involves my girls and I chatting as I slice, dice and saute while we wait for Steve to get home for a love and laughter filled meal. This night, Adam and Jack bound in and after a couple minutes examining the menu, we turned to extreme team entertainment by my girls complete with a soundtrack incidentally created for a dodgeball tournament.

We usually save the dance party for dessert, but the girls clearly know this is a celebration.

My cooking went south after this and while the kale chips were pretty tasty, I forgot to add the oatmeal I had planned to thicken the soup (sounds odd but try it, it's wonderful). And I hate to admit but once again I noticed a flaw in my process of cooking the bread (too close to the broiler) and completely ignored my pleas to listen to myself (typical) so the rolls turned out to be what Adam termed "bread gushers" as in "fruit gushers." I'm sure you can imagine. But we ate and laughed and lingered at the table playing Pancakes or Waffles (recipe below) until way past the girls' bedtime.

Knowing my family could very well spend our days eating decent food for the sake of eating before turning on our shows until we tucker out, this night was a classic reason I love cooking. Even if the food's not perfect. If I am gonna cook, it's gonna be good. As good I can muster (in Thursday evening's case I welcomed it suffering in spite of the hullabaloo) and if I am lucky enough to occupy a table with a group of friends or family it's gonna be fun. I mean, what's not fun about bread gushers and games with 8 year olds? I like to make good use of my time and cooking well is important to me. It is clear to me that Adam is skilled at making good use of his time. He wasted none diving into an awesome night in the midst of a January in Duluth that he could have just as well spent chilling out to movie marathons between jobs. I think that's pretty cool.

Steve and I had a delightful evening with what felt like old pals (I'm sure they've heard this a lot this month) and apparently my girls had a night to remember because they recounted most of the evening over another dinner with friends today.

Creamy Mushroom and Winter Veggie Soup
In oil in a soup pot, brown chunky diced veggies such as rutabaga, parsnip, carrot, onion and potato. In a separate skillet, saute a large amount of roughly chopped mushrooms in hot oil, in batches to promote deep browning. Add mushrooms to the soup pot and spread the veggies to the edges, creating a spot in the center for a couple pats of butter and a handful of sliced garlic. Sprinkle flour over all. Stir for a minute while the flour browns to a light caramel color. There should be enough fat in the pan to coat the flour (no dry white spots). If not, drizzle with olive oil and stir together. Add broth to cover the veggies by an inch and whisk over medium high heat until the mixture boils and thickens a bit (a few minutes). Add a couple splashes of heavy cream and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until the veggies are tender (if not already). This is a good soup and a good quick-cooking technique to have under your belt. If you want it thicker, add a sprinkle of oatmeal and simmer until the oatmeal is tender. If you want it thinner, add broth or cream to the desired consistency.

No-Knead Yeast Bread for 4
2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
3/4 cups water, room temp

Mix all together well in a bowl. Cover with a towel and let it sit for 8-12 hours. Punch it down and knead a time or two . Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat. Heat the broiler in the oven with the rack set third from the top (near the center of the oven). Tear off a piece of dough and flatten it into a 1/2 inch thick round. Flip your skillet over and place your dough on the bottom, then slide it under broiler. After several minutes it will puff up and it's done when the top is toasted. Heat the bottom of the pan for each round of dough. This is easiest with 2 pans-one heating on the stove while the other sits under the broiler. Don't rush, unless you want to try my famous bread gushers!

Kale Chips
Remove the ribs from a bunch of kale. This stuff's tasty, it won't feed as many as you think. Drizzle a little olive oil over the leaves and toss with your hands. Spread them out flat in one layer on a sheet pan. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over and place in a 300F oven. Flip after 10 minutes and remove after another 10, or when the chips sound crispy when you give the pan a shake. I think these taste like almost burnt pumpkin seeds and I love them.

Pancakes or Waffles (game play)
Sit around in a circle. Someone says "pancakes or waffles?" and all players pipe in with their pick. Me? Pancakes and here's why! Say pancakes gets the most votes, the next person in the circle says "pancakes or ____" the blank being filled in with something of roughly equal value in their opinion (or something outrageous in some people's case). The winning choice always goes up against the next player's choice. Ties, of course, are determined by rock paper scissors. And around it goes!

Thanks Adam, for making us part of your awesome project-adventure!

Enjoy your day!

Perfect Breakfast Biscuits

In terms of baking, biscuits are right up my alley. Fifteen minutes from start to finish and the secret is to keep it simple, not work too hard or too long. This is my kind of meal!

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!









Southern Style Buttermilk Biscuit


Sweet Cream Biscuit


The Perfect Crumb

Making biscuits is so easy you could do it every day with the stuff you already have in your cupboards. I made two types today: Southern Buttermilk and Sweet Cream. They are both very easy if you follow some simple tricks and words of wisdom.


Buttermilk Biscuits
makes 10 2.5 inch biscuits

1.5 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
plus a pinch of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons cold or frozen lard, diced
3/4 cup cold buttermilk
Melted butter for finishing

Sift together dry ingredients several times. Toss the cold lard into the dry ingredients. Quickly smash the lard pieces into flat discs with your fingers, then crumble the lard into the flour until some are sandy sized pieces and some are pea-sized pieces. If things are warming up, place this in the fridge for five minutes. Make a well in the center of the flour mix and pour in the cold buttermilk. Fold together until the mixture has just combined and picked up most of the flour from the bowl (add extra milk as needed to make a sticky moist dough). Do not over mix.

With floured hands, place your rough dough onto a well floured counter top. Press it into a 1 to 2 inch thick flat mass, then fold into thirds (like a letter) one way and then the other ( i.e. fold the top down, fold the bottom up, then fold the left side in and lastly the right side in). You'll end up with what looks like a block of rough dough. Press the dough flat again and fold into thirds. Roll out with a floured rolling pin to a 1/2 inch thick round. Prick the dough all over in 1/2 inch intervals with a fork. Cut with a floured biscuit cutter and arrange on a baking sheet so they're almost touching. Bake at 500F for 6 to 10 minutes in the top third of your oven then brush with melted butter. Serve hot.


Sweet Cream Biscuits
makes 10 2.5 inch biscuits

1.5 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
plus a pinch of baking soda
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons frozen butter, grated
3/4 cup cold heavy cream
Sugar for finishing

Sift together dry ingredients several times. Toss the grated butter into the dry ingredients. Crumble the butter into the flour until most are sandy sized pieces and some are pea-sized pieces. If things are warming up, place this in the fridge for five minutes. Make a well in the center of the flour mix and pour in the cold heavy cream. Fold together until the mixture has just combined and picked up most of the flour from the bowl (add extra cream or milk as needed to make a sticky moist dough). Do not over mix.

With floured hands, place your rough dough onto a well floured counter top. Press it into a 1 to 2 inch thick flat mass, then fold into thirds (like a letter) one way and then the other ( i.e. fold the top down, fold the bottom up, then fold the left side in and lastly the right side in). You'll end up with what looks like a block of rough dough. Press the dough flat again and fold into thirds. Roll out with a floured rolling pin to a 1/2 inch thick round. Cut with a floured biscuit cutter and sprinkle with fine sugar. Bake at 475F for 6 to 10 minutes in the center of your oven. Serve hot.

Notes:
The secret to light and flaky biscuits is to not over work your dough, but also to work it just enough. It might take a few tries to get the feel of it.

There are a few differences between these two recipes. Some are tradition and others have a purpose. Pricking your buttermilk dough is traditional, for example. Baking your sweet biscuits further from the heat source (in the center of the oven) keeps your sugar from browning too fast. And a couple differences are because that's how I happen to do it. You'll be sure to find your own methods after a few attempts of your own.

Better to have a slightly wet dough than too dry. Moister dough will rise lighter. Add liquid if things seem on the dry side while folding your liquid into the flour.

Don't twist your biscuit cutter when you cut your rounds. It will seal the edges of your dough and prevent your biscuits from rising.

Don't re-roll your scraps. Bake them on top of baked beans or a stew or simply bake in little chunks and enjoy.

In many places outside of the US, our "biscuits" are known as "scones" and our "scones" are known as "rock cakes".




Whatever you want to call them, here's how I prefer to eat them:

Hot with butter and honey. Yum!


Enjoy your day!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Salt and Honey Scrub with Grapefruit and Rosemary

My girlfriends gathered at Katie's to make homemade cleaning products (awesome) and I threw in this recipe for a salt and honey scrub that moisturizes with olive oil. It makes my skin feel super despite Duluth's very dry mid-winter air. The recipe's simple and the only equipment it requires is a bowl and jars!

I made this batch with kosher salt, olive oil, honey, grapefruit and rosemary oils and a bit of sugar. I know a lot of people make theirs with table salt because the kosher's grains are so large. But unlike kosher salt, table salt has anti-caking chemicals in it. And the kosher salt dissolves really quickly when you rub the scrub between your damp hands. It'll soften up to the texture of a good moisturizing exfoliant. Alternately, you can use fine sea salt or even pulse kosher salt to a finer grain for a few seconds in a food processor.

I love how close the color is to real grapefruit pulp!

This sort of treat is my favorite kind of gift to my friends (and self).

Salt and Honey Scrub with Grapefruit and Rosemary
Fills about 6 half-pint jars.
Shelf life 4 months.

2 cups olive oil
2/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon grapefruit essential oil
1/4 teaspoon rosemary essential oil
3 cups salt
sugar (optional)
red food coloring (2 drops)

Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a bowl. Gradually mix in the salt 1/2 cup at a time. It's easiest to mix with your hands. Wear gloves if you have sensitive skin.

Continue to mix until the oil is mostly absorbed into the grains. It will be very thick and mass together with a bit of oil seeping out. If it's not coming together after several minutes, add salt or sugar in half cup increments until it's a gritty oily paste (you will need more salt/sugar if using kosher salt and less if using a finer grain salt).

Add 2 drops red food coloring and mix well. Add additional essential oil at a rate of 1/4 teaspoon at a time for a stronger fragrance.

Scoop the scrub into little jars with holes large enough to dig the product out by hand. Wipe off the top of the jar before lidding as the salt can rust the metal lid.

To use, scoop a tablespoon of the scrub into damp hands and massage between your hands until you feel a gritty paste. Scrub your face and body in a circular motion until most of the salt crystals dissolve, then rinse.


Easy as that! Enjoy your day!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

15 minute Pho

This soup will knock your socks off and make you feel like you could run a mile!

I've made the classic Vietnamese Pho in the long version before. The soup itself comes together quickly but the broth takes several hours. I make Pho a lot and most days I make this quick version. There's a smaller difference between this dish and the time-consuming soup than you would imagine.

Pho - typically pronounced "fuh" though in Duluth we tend to pronounce it "foe" - is a combination of rice noodles with thinly sliced meat, cilantro or Asian basil, bean sprouts, lime and a heavily seasoned broth. It's wonderful.

I make mine with bean thread noodles, flank steak and Napa cabbage. The rest I keep fairly traditional.

15 minute Pho
Makes 4 servings

Bring to a boil in a soup pan:
5 cups beef or chicken stock
4 whole cloves
1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon anise seed
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
One pinch red pepper flakes
One pinch ground black pepper
1 inch section of ginger, peeled, minced and smashed a bit

Simmer for 15 minutes while you prep your ingredients.

Bring a pot of water to boil (enough to soak 4 servings of bean threads).
When the water comes to a boil, remove it from the heat and add the noddles. Let sit uncovered for the remainder of the 15 minutes, or until tender.

Thinly slice:
3 whole green onions
1/2 head Napa cabbage
1/3 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 jalapeno
3/4 pound flank steak (against the grain into 1 to 2 inch pieces)

Over the sliced meat, drizzle 1 teaspoon tamari (or good soy) sauce plus 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil and mix.

Section a lime into 8 wedges.

When broth has completed simmering and noodles are tender, begin assembly:

In a deep bowl, in order, with the amount to taste:
Whole jalapeno slices (1-3), noodles, sliced meat, cabbage, onion, cilantro and 2 wedges of lime juice.

Pour boiling broth over the top and let it rest for 1 minute. Give it a gentle stir with chopsticks and let it rest 1 minute more. Season to taste if needed.



And enjoy!!!







Saturday, January 7, 2012

Camellia Sinensis: All About Tea

A few of my favorite things to say about tea:

All teas come from the same plant. Blacks are oxidized longer than greens and oolongs are in between. Herbal teas aren't technically tea.

Tea is naturally high in fluoride and Vitamin C. It contains caffeine, a bit less but the same caffeine as coffee. Though tea also contains a natural chemical that slows the speed that our bodies metabolize the caffeine. This is why we crash off coffee but tea holds us until the early afternoon.

It's not good to use tea balls because the leaves need to unfurl. As in it goes from this (imagine my thumb and pointer close together) to this (wide open, like five or six times bigger). I use a 4 cup tea pot with a deep wire basket as seen here on my cast iron cooking post.

I heard that if you switch from coffee to tea and change nothing else about your diet, you will lose an average of 10 pounds! I don't know if this is true for a fact. Nonetheless, it's part of my tea spiel.

I love tea to an extreme (can you tell?!). I drink it every day in the morning and again in the afternoon if I'm lucky. I talk about tea a lot. I give tea to people disguised as gifts to propagate potential tea enthusiasts. I buy all my tea loose in 4 oz. pouches from Teasource, a Twin Cities based tea store that has an incredible catalog and delivers to my door no longer than two days from my online order.

Today, I drank four pots of tea (and counting) and spent the day practicing use of the manual settings on my new digital camera. Along the way taking photos of my beloved energy source. Yes, I'm kinda tripping out on tea right now (and I like it). This is how I party now that I'm in my 30s.

Once used tea leaves. These are ready for another couple of pour overs. The next two pots will have less caffeine than the first, but the flavor remains.


Unused teas on left, waiting to unfurl.


Today's picks:
Green tea with Mandarin Orange

Moroccan Mint

Tung Ting Oolong

Gunpowder Temple of Heaven

I love to observe the differences in types of tea based on how they were dried and processed and flavored in some cases, with the touch of people that have hand rolled the leaves in the manner specific to each type. It's a very beautiful thing.

Interested in making the jump from coffee to tea? I did! Give me the word and I'll send you a sample.

Enjoy your day and thanks for checking out my blog!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Stovetop Popcorn

This is how we eat popcorn in my family: Cook it in a little oil on the stove top in a soup pot with a tight fitting lid. Add melted butter, kosher salt and brewer's yeast (what's that? see below). And enjoy! It takes about five minutes, it's actually good for you (low in calories, high in fiber and vitamins, and a little butter to curb the hunger) and it's the most delicious popcorn I've ever tasted. Though I would have to say that because I was raised on it...but Steve wasn't, and he's a super fan!







Brewer's yeast, similar to nutritional yeast powder, is a non-active yeast that is used as a supplement in many vegetarian diets. There are some nutritional differences between brewer's yeast and nutritional yeast powder but they taste about the same. But don't believe everything you read if you're thinking of using the yeasts as a supplement to a vegetarian diet. There is an especially large amount of conflicting info regarding the vitamin B12 (some powdered yeasts are fortified with it and others aren't). For my part, I use it on popcorn because it tastes awesome and for no other reason. Brewer's yeast is sold in bulk at whole foods markets. You can often find it in flakes or powdered. I always buy powdered and I have used both brewer's yeast and nutritional yeast powder to equal satisfaction.





PS This recipe will teach you how to make stove top popcorn regardless of your desire to try the crazy yeast powder. I also like mine with butter and salt, a couple pinches of sugar and a bit of cracked black pepper. Yum! Or if I'm on a little weight loss plan, I'll use olive oil in place of butter, a bit of salt, and I'll eat a reasonable amount versus one that's three times the size of my head.


Brew-sy Cheese Popcorn
(the name that stuck from my childhood days)

Cover the bottom of a mid-sized soup pot with oil (any type, I use peanut oil). Then cover the bottom of the pot with one single layer of popcorn kernels. Put a tight fitting lid on it and turn the heat to a couple notches over medium. I set it to number 7 every time and it's perfect. Now wait and don't lift the lid or mess with it until it's done popping.

Meanwhile, melt half a stick of butter (or 2/3 if your pot is on the large side) on the stove and collect your kosher salt and nutritional yeast powder.

When you can count to 3 without hearing a pop, pour the popcorn into a big bowl.

Using a soup spoon, drizzle the top of the popcorn with about one third of your melted butter. Give it a pinch of salt and a rounded spoonful of yeast. Toss it in with the spoon or your hands. Add the next third of butter, another pinch of salt and a spoon of yeast, and toss. Finish with the rest of your butter. Toss, then add salt and yeast to taste.

*If your kernels popped up small and tough, try a new bag of popcorn or lowering your heat next time.

*Try not to over do the salt. It may seem like it needs more but once your halfway through that bowl you'll regret that extra pinch.

*Brewer's yeast makes most people's pee a very bright yellow color-like unnaturally scary yellow. This is normal, do not worry.

Thanks for checking out my blog, and enjoy your day!
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