Monday, December 13, 2010
Cooking deprived
So I have been quite busy getting my stuff in for the end of the semester and getting ready for a final and an exit interview this week. I haven't had time to cook! :( Well, not for real anyways. I made refried bean dip Friday night, but I don't really count that. (Fry hot sausage, add refried beans until warm, dose with jalapenos, salsa, hot sauce, etc, melt cheese on top, serve with torillas - in case you're interested - quick and yummy!) And tonight I'm baking some acorn squash (I'm thinking I'll add the usual brown sugar and try some apple cider) and gingerbread from a box. That's right, gingerbread from a box. Let's hope it's decent (but prolly still not as good as homemade). But I'm almost done with all my lesson plans til Christmas break! So after my final, I should have plenty of free time. Let's hope. I'm missing the thrill of trying new recipes. And I have a couple new cookbooks with plenty of them! ;)
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Quiche Lorraine and then some
For some reason, Bob had little pieces of quiche at a breakfast buffet this fall and has been bugging me to make quiche ever since. I'm not a huge fan of quiche. It tastes alright, but for some reason I can't get past the texture. I decided, though, that I'd make it this weekend and get it over with. And while I was making quiche, I might as well go all out. So beyond the quiche lorraine with bacon, I added some stuff. :-P You know me and following directions....
Quiche Lorraine (a la Julia Child)
6 to 8 pieces thick-sliced bacon
An 8-inch partially cooked pastry shell placed on a buttered baking sheet
3 large eggs
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 c heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
Pinch of pepper and nutmeg
1 to 2 T butter
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice bacon into 1/4-inch pieces and brown lightly in a frying pan; drain and spread in bottom of pastry shell. Beat eggs, cream, and seasonings in a bowl to blend. Just before baking, pour cream mixture into the shell, filling to within 1/8 inch of the top. Cut butter into bits and distribute over the cream. Bake in upper third of over for 25 to 30 minutes until quiche has puffed and browned, and a small knife, plunged into custard, comes out clean.
Now, of course, that's not what I actually did. First of all, I was not going to spend time on the "pastry shell." According to Julia, you should make your own crust and bake it upside down over a tart pan (like I have one) so it can stand on it's own. Whatever, I used storebought crust and just put it in the pan thawed. And I didn't do my bacon ever so neatly. I fried it and broke it up by hand. Because I'm a barbarian like that. :-D And while I was at it, I threw in some shredded swiss cheese and some fresh mushrooms.
Then I did the eggs and cream (by hand with a whisk, not with an electric beater, of course), and I could just see Bob saying that it was too fluffy. So I added another egg. And no salt. I'm sure the bacon is sodium enough. And same with the butter. Do we really need more? I'm sure Julia would've been appalled! As for baking it in the upper third of the oven, in addition to being at a tilt, my oven only has one shelf, which does not move! I've tried! So I cooked it for 20 minutes at 350 until everything started browning and then microwaved it a couple minutes to get it done.
So the moral of the story: The quiche turned out well, although probably not how Julia Child would have liked it. It tastes good, but I still don't like the feel of it in my mouth. And I'm starting my wishlist for the kitchen in my house someday: 1) A good stove that's not on a tilt, 2) More than one square foot of counter space, 3) More storage space so I can have stuff like tart pans, 4) A dishwasher (which should actually be #1). Because now I'm off to wash dishes. I have been blessed with a love of cooking but cursed with an absolute hatred of washing dishes. *Sigh*
Quiche Lorraine (a la Julia Child)
6 to 8 pieces thick-sliced bacon
An 8-inch partially cooked pastry shell placed on a buttered baking sheet
3 large eggs
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 c heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
Pinch of pepper and nutmeg
1 to 2 T butter
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice bacon into 1/4-inch pieces and brown lightly in a frying pan; drain and spread in bottom of pastry shell. Beat eggs, cream, and seasonings in a bowl to blend. Just before baking, pour cream mixture into the shell, filling to within 1/8 inch of the top. Cut butter into bits and distribute over the cream. Bake in upper third of over for 25 to 30 minutes until quiche has puffed and browned, and a small knife, plunged into custard, comes out clean.
Now, of course, that's not what I actually did. First of all, I was not going to spend time on the "pastry shell." According to Julia, you should make your own crust and bake it upside down over a tart pan (like I have one) so it can stand on it's own. Whatever, I used storebought crust and just put it in the pan thawed. And I didn't do my bacon ever so neatly. I fried it and broke it up by hand. Because I'm a barbarian like that. :-D And while I was at it, I threw in some shredded swiss cheese and some fresh mushrooms.
Then I did the eggs and cream (by hand with a whisk, not with an electric beater, of course), and I could just see Bob saying that it was too fluffy. So I added another egg. And no salt. I'm sure the bacon is sodium enough. And same with the butter. Do we really need more? I'm sure Julia would've been appalled! As for baking it in the upper third of the oven, in addition to being at a tilt, my oven only has one shelf, which does not move! I've tried! So I cooked it for 20 minutes at 350 until everything started browning and then microwaved it a couple minutes to get it done.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Grandma Ridley's Red Velvet Cake
Ok, so this recipe turned out... okay. It was actually a bit disappointing, because I was so looking forward to it. I'm still not sure if I'm to blame, or if it was the recipe (which is written in vague narrative in my grandma's hard-to-read writing), but either way, here's how the battle went:
"1/2 c margarine 1 1/2 c sugar 2 eggs. Creamed together." Okay, I can do that.
"make paste of 2 oz red food coloring 2 T cocoa add to above." Well, the largest bottle of food coloring at the store was only 1 fl oz, and that set me back almost $4. So I decided that would be enough (and it was, enough to make me a little pink, too). But let me tell you, food coloring and cocoa go together like water and oil. The cocoa rolls round and round the coloring but doesn't want to mix in. But it got done eventually.
"Alternate 2 1/4 c cake flour with 1 c sour milk beating well." I didn't have either of these. But I knew the common substitutes. 1 T white vinegar + the rest of a cup of milk = 1 c sour milk after 15 minutes. 3/4 c regular flour + 2 T cornstarch = cake flour. Maybe this is where the recipe went wrong? Too many substitutes?
"add 1 t soda dissolved in 1 T vinegar - salt + vanilla" Okay, we all know what happens when baking soda and vinegar get together. But I did it anyways. After TONS of bubbling the soda refused to dissolve! What to do? Wait and stir, wait and stir... still nothing. So put it in anyways. And then "salt + vanilla?" How much? I ended up with about 1/8 t salt and 1/2 t vanilla.
"divide in 3 pans bake 30 min 350" This wasn't much batter. Three pans? Even if I had them, I didn't know if it was a good idea. So it went in a big 9 X 13, which seemed to fit quite nicely. But the baking? I know my oven runs a little hot, so I set it just over 325 and set the timer for 20 minutes. Then the edges were getting crispy. I don't know how grandma baked hers for 30 minutes in smaller pans.
Then came the frosting... A whole other battle. "Frosting Cook until smooth 1 c milk 1/3 c flour - Cook. Beat 1 c crisco, 1 c sugar until smooth add to cooked flour and milk paste, beat well add dash salt 1 t vanilla." Ok? We'll try. So I first broke Rule #1: Add liquid to powder, not vice versa. That's right, I dumped the flour on top of the milk, which then refused to blend. And I was so frustrated with that that I decided I was going to microwave that instead of cooking it. It seemed to work alright. But when I added it to the crisco/sugar blend, it just wouldn't blend together right. Now, one thing you need to know about me is that I hate using my electric beater. I don't know why, but I just don't like it. So I used spoons, forks, and various sizes of whisks determined to make this frosting submit without the electric beater. It didn't work. Even when I did use the beater, it didn't work. Too much milk. I ended up doctoring it with some powdered sugar to make something passable. I guess maybe there's a reason that grandma wrote "cook" and "beat" both twice?
So, in the end, I ended up with a cake that looked like red velvet, but didn't really taste like it. Too dry (maybe regular flour, or maybe some oil, or maybe an extra egg?) And messed up frosting. Boo! At least it tasted decent and was edible in general. This recipe will go in the "try again later" pile. I'm not quite ready to give up on it yet.
"1/2 c margarine 1 1/2 c sugar 2 eggs. Creamed together." Okay, I can do that.
"make paste of 2 oz red food coloring 2 T cocoa add to above." Well, the largest bottle of food coloring at the store was only 1 fl oz, and that set me back almost $4. So I decided that would be enough (and it was, enough to make me a little pink, too). But let me tell you, food coloring and cocoa go together like water and oil. The cocoa rolls round and round the coloring but doesn't want to mix in. But it got done eventually.
"Alternate 2 1/4 c cake flour with 1 c sour milk beating well." I didn't have either of these. But I knew the common substitutes. 1 T white vinegar + the rest of a cup of milk = 1 c sour milk after 15 minutes. 3/4 c regular flour + 2 T cornstarch = cake flour. Maybe this is where the recipe went wrong? Too many substitutes?
"add 1 t soda dissolved in 1 T vinegar - salt + vanilla" Okay, we all know what happens when baking soda and vinegar get together. But I did it anyways. After TONS of bubbling the soda refused to dissolve! What to do? Wait and stir, wait and stir... still nothing. So put it in anyways. And then "salt + vanilla?" How much? I ended up with about 1/8 t salt and 1/2 t vanilla.
"divide in 3 pans bake 30 min 350" This wasn't much batter. Three pans? Even if I had them, I didn't know if it was a good idea. So it went in a big 9 X 13, which seemed to fit quite nicely. But the baking? I know my oven runs a little hot, so I set it just over 325 and set the timer for 20 minutes. Then the edges were getting crispy. I don't know how grandma baked hers for 30 minutes in smaller pans.
Then came the frosting... A whole other battle. "Frosting Cook until smooth 1 c milk 1/3 c flour - Cook. Beat 1 c crisco, 1 c sugar until smooth add to cooked flour and milk paste, beat well add dash salt 1 t vanilla." Ok? We'll try. So I first broke Rule #1: Add liquid to powder, not vice versa. That's right, I dumped the flour on top of the milk, which then refused to blend. And I was so frustrated with that that I decided I was going to microwave that instead of cooking it. It seemed to work alright. But when I added it to the crisco/sugar blend, it just wouldn't blend together right. Now, one thing you need to know about me is that I hate using my electric beater. I don't know why, but I just don't like it. So I used spoons, forks, and various sizes of whisks determined to make this frosting submit without the electric beater. It didn't work. Even when I did use the beater, it didn't work. Too much milk. I ended up doctoring it with some powdered sugar to make something passable. I guess maybe there's a reason that grandma wrote "cook" and "beat" both twice?
So, in the end, I ended up with a cake that looked like red velvet, but didn't really taste like it. Too dry (maybe regular flour, or maybe some oil, or maybe an extra egg?) And messed up frosting. Boo! At least it tasted decent and was edible in general. This recipe will go in the "try again later" pile. I'm not quite ready to give up on it yet.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Mustard Herb Beef Stew
So back around Easter time I was flipping through magazines at my grandpa's house, when I came across this recipe for Mustard Herb Beef Stew. It looked so warm and yummy, but I never got around to making it. Then today I got up early as usual and drove to school only to discover that it was closed and I had never gotten the call! On the bright side, I had gotten to drive on good roads both ways and enjoy the pretty new snow-covered landscape and think/pray. And instead of sleeping in until 10, I was already awake and going! So I decided a hot lunch was in order, and what better food than stew for flood/snow weather.
This recipe looks good from the start. When I was in the grocery store, the gentleman behind me said, "I don't know where you're going, but I think I should come, too. It looks like you're making something good." To be fair, I did have some baking stuff on the belt, too. (Grandma Ridley's Red Velvet Cake coming soon) But the stew stuff looked yummy still raw. And when it was all done, it was just as good. I'm not sure why, but it made me feel like I was sitting at an English pub.
Mustard Herb Beef Stew
1/3 c flour
1 T parsley
1t fresh or 1/2 t dried thyme
1 t black pepper
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 lb beef chuck, cubed
2 T olive oil
8 to 10 oz cipolini or 1 med onion, chopped
4 carrots, sliced
8 oz cremini mushrooms (although regular would work, too)
8 tiny Yukon gold potatoes (I halved and quartered them)
3 T tomato paste
2 T spicy brown mustard
14 oz can beef broth
12 oz can dark porter beer (I have no clue about beer. I just used Labatts, which was what was around. And don't worry, it cooks out.)
1 bay leaf
In a plastic bag, combine flour, parsley, thyme, pepper, and salt. Add beef and shake to coat. Brown beef in hot oil. Stir in veggies. Cook and stir for three minutes. Stir in paste, mustard, and leftover flour mix. Add broth, beer, and the bay leaf. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1-1 1/4 hours or until beef and veggies are done. (Don't eat the bay leaf.)
P.S. Here's how the picked eggs and beets turned out. Could've used a tad bit more vinegar, but I'll remember that for next time.
This recipe looks good from the start. When I was in the grocery store, the gentleman behind me said, "I don't know where you're going, but I think I should come, too. It looks like you're making something good." To be fair, I did have some baking stuff on the belt, too. (Grandma Ridley's Red Velvet Cake coming soon) But the stew stuff looked yummy still raw. And when it was all done, it was just as good. I'm not sure why, but it made me feel like I was sitting at an English pub.
Mustard Herb Beef Stew
1/3 c flour
1 T parsley
1t fresh or 1/2 t dried thyme
1 t black pepper
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 lb beef chuck, cubed
2 T olive oil
8 to 10 oz cipolini or 1 med onion, chopped
4 carrots, sliced
8 oz cremini mushrooms (although regular would work, too)
8 tiny Yukon gold potatoes (I halved and quartered them)
3 T tomato paste
2 T spicy brown mustard
14 oz can beef broth
12 oz can dark porter beer (I have no clue about beer. I just used Labatts, which was what was around. And don't worry, it cooks out.)
1 bay leaf
In a plastic bag, combine flour, parsley, thyme, pepper, and salt. Add beef and shake to coat. Brown beef in hot oil. Stir in veggies. Cook and stir for three minutes. Stir in paste, mustard, and leftover flour mix. Add broth, beer, and the bay leaf. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1-1 1/4 hours or until beef and veggies are done. (Don't eat the bay leaf.)
P.S. Here's how the picked eggs and beets turned out. Could've used a tad bit more vinegar, but I'll remember that for next time.
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