Curing the Sick

Is there anything more comforting than Chicken Noodle Soup, or Chicken and Dumplings? Or even Chicken Noodle Casserole? I didn't think so. According to a recent episode of Jeopardy, Chicken Noodle Soup is known as Jewish Penicillin. I quite agree. As I mentioned in my last post, I have a sick boy on my hands. Luckily, I had just about everything on hand to make this version of Chicken and Dumplings. Full disclosure, I had never made dumplings before. Never really ate them much either. I guess my family is more noodle soup than dumplings. But this was really delicious. The dumplings are way comforting. and salty. This is definitely staying in the repertoire and I can't wait to try it again with my adjustments.  

 Making a tasty broth

 Boiling down the broth to enhance the flavor

Dropping dumplings!

 Adding the meat and veggies back in

No species can resist

Chicken & Dumplings

Loosely based on Mad Hungry

I adapted the recipe so that you don't end up with so many coarsely chopped vegetables in the final product. The trick was to make sure that the broth got flavored but that the veggies don't get soggy by the time the chicken is done. The solution? Two batches of vegetables. It's not wasteful- it's tasty. You could always save and eat the coarsely chopped veggies if you wanted. I just don't like that much turnip in one bite!

For the Chicken

• 4 chicken thighs
• 1 onion, halved but root end left intact
• 1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
• 4 sprigs of fresh parsley or thyme 
• 1-2 turnips and parsnips coarsely chopped  
• 8 to 10 cups water
• 1 tbls coarse salt
• 1 chicken bullion cube
• 1 large carrot diced
• 2 celery stalks diced
• 1 cup peas

For the Dumplings

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• 3/4 cup milk  
• 1 tsp dill, fresh or dried

Add the chicken to a large pot with a lid. Add the coarsely chopped vegetables (onion, carrot, celery, parsley, turnip, and parsnips) to the pot and barely cover with the water.

 

Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to a simmer, partially cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Lift out the chicken and vegetables. Discard the vegetables and herb sprigs, reserving the onion. Chop the onion and return it to the broth along with the diced carrot, celery and peas. Continue to simmer the broth for 15 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the salt and bouillon cube. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat, shredding it into large pieces.

 

To make dumplings, in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk and herbs to combine.

 

Drop the dough, 1 tablespoon at a time onto the simmering broth. Cover and cook until the dumplings have cooked through 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully return the shredded chicken to the pot. Reheat for 1 minute or so.

Halloween Inspiration

The boxes are out and the decorations are going up. I'm feeling especially crafty this year so here is where I've been turning to recently for some more inspiration on decor for the season:

Halloween Hang-Ups / Spooky Silhouette Designs / Tombstone Yard Decorations / Bats Mobile Turnip Jack O Lanterns / Felt Pumpkin People

Halloween Dolls from American Harvest / Candy Wreath / Scary Message Lanterns / Shivering Bats Shade / Paper Mache Jack O Lantern

And how about a recipe to get you even more inspired? I made this yesterday morning for a sick boy. He was just lucky that I had some stale bread. And some Pumpkin Butter.

Pumpkin Butter Stuffed French Toast

For 2 people

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• Milk
• Pumpkin Pie Spice- or apple pie spice or just a dash of nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger
• Stale wholewheat Portuguese Bun Bread- or whatever you have that you can slice
• Pumpkin Butter- got mine from Trader Joe's
• Butter
• Maple Syrup

Make your batter by combining the eggs with a couple glugs of milk in a shallow bowl. Add in the spices and whisk well. Slice your bread thick- about an inch. Cut a pocket into the middle of the bread. Squeeze the bread to open the pocket and fill with a couple tablespoons of Pumpkin Butter. Careful though- not too much! My butter was quite savory. Heat a couple tablespoons butter in a skillet. Place your bread in the egg mixture. let set for 10 seconds and flip to let stand for another 10 seconds. Once the butter has stopped foaming, add the eggy toast. Let sit for a few minutes. Once it is golden brown, flip the toast and continue cooking until golden brown. Serve with maple syrup.

Might want to consider the Grade B type of Maple Syrupr. Do you know the difference? I didn't- until now!

What's not to like? Potatoes on the Brain

This is such an easy recipe. You should really just make this tonight. And if your fridge is anything like mine, then you already have everything you need: potatoes (maybe a parsnip or two), cream, thyme, salt and pepper. I added dollops of butter on top before putting it in the oven but I think it was totally unnecessary. 

I also added jarlsberg on top for the last 15 minutes and this was pretty tasty, but I think it too is not essential. The beauty is in the simplicity. Just good ingredients, composed in a simple way.

Don't forget to properly season the vegetables!

 With a fresh garlic sausage, this was a pretty delicious meal. I urge you to give it a try.

Potato & Turnip Gratin
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• About 2 pounds of potatoes and turnips. Peeled and thinly sliced. I used baby russets, sweet potatoes and turnips.
• Butter for greasing the dish
• 3 sprigs of a robust herb, such as a thyme
• 2 cups heavy cream

Heat oven to 375 degrees and butter a 9 x 13 baking dish. Start by infusing the cream. Bring 1 1/2 cups cream and thyme to just under a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and let stand 30 minutes. Strain the cream and discard thyme. 

Arrange the potato and turnip slices so they overlap, alternating between the different vegetables. Pour the infused cream over top (it should almost cover the vegetables; add the extra 1/2 cup if necessary) season with salt & pepper and cover tightly with parchment and then foil.

Bake until vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes, then remove foil (this would be a good to add cheese, such as jarlsberg, if wanted) and bake until golden brown and bubbling, about 15 minutes more.
 

Try not to eat it all at once!

Can't get enough Maple Syrup

I've a had couple great meals this weekend and some of the dishes have really stuck with me. Oh and look at what I just did, because- ha. ha- both of these recipes are centered around Maple Syrup!  At Birch & Barley in Washington, D.C. I had a ridiculously good side dish of Maple Brussel Sprouts. Kris was literally drooling over them. Each sprout was cut into quarters and seared to the point of burning on a side or two. But each piece was just bursting with maple flavor. Is it possible to brine veggies in a maple marinade?! So tasty without being sweet. Kris is hoping that the bar on the upper floor serves this as bar food. I haven't found any recipes directly from the source, but here is one that looks similar. Gonna have to try that out.

The other maple dish we had this weekend was a Maple Custard from Diner in Williamsburg in New York City. The meal on the whole was excellent (fantastic burger- maybe Free-Range does have something to do with it?) although I still don't like that the menu isn't written down anywhere. The waiter usually sits down with you and tells you about the menu while writing down the main component on the paper tablecloth. They won't even give you the prices unless you ask! But back to the desert- which I think was $8- It was tremendous. Pure maple flavor with a creme brulee consistency. I will definitely be trying to replicate this one asap and here is a good place to start: Maple Custard Cups on Epicurious.

Bummer

How many gourds have you gotten thus far? I can't seem to stop myself. They are all so beautiful and add instant charm to the season.

Maggie can't seem to get enough of pumpkins either. I couldn't get a single focused shot of her.

Maybe she just likes the attention... 

I would really love to try growing my own pumpkins and squash next year and this is where I would go to get some heirloom seeds. I just wish I could go in person!



I bought this beautiful box of tomatoes fully intending to make Early Girl Tomato Jam which I saw on Martha Stewart last week as part of the Blue Chair Jam Cookbook. The recipe uses a different (supposedly older) method of canning, where you bake the jars in the oven instead of boiling them in a canning pot. Also, the jam looked amazing. Imagine, if you will, in the dead of winter, smearing some peppery tomato jam on toast and topping it with goat cheese? Or thinned out to use as a glaze on beef or pork chops? yum! Unfortunately, the end of last week vanished and then I was away this weekend. When I got home this morning ready to start blanching tomatoes, the whole box had pretty much turned to mush. It was pretty gross. And tragic. Oh! and the recipe has vanished from Martha's website (!!) so it seems that this was really not going to happen for me anyway. I'm trying to figure out if I would have been more upset if the tomatoes were still fine but the recipe was gone. probably not. Oh well!

Instead of a recipe, I thought I would share an interesting podcast I listened to on the long bus ride back: This History of Chocolate. Now that's bound to lift anyone's spirits. I'm off to buy one of those 2 pounds bags of mini snicker's for my ceramic pumpkin dish. Halloween is near!

Midnight Food Cravings

Sometimes, if it's late and I can't fall asleep, I'll grab my computer and try to find something short to watch like the latest Modern Family or 30 Rock, but not on Tuesday. I got lost on Hulu and landed on the Paula Deen page. Having been deprived from cooking shows for some time, I take pleasure in watching these ridiculous 3min 45sec videos most of which involve frying. I've seen her make Mac & Cheese with a pound of beef in it, Fried Mac & Cheese, Country Fried Steak and Gravy, Symphony Brownies (a boxed brownie mix with a Symphony candy bar placed in the middle!) and the most incredibly thing I've seen her make is a Deep-Fried Bagel Sandwich where almost every component was fried- green tomatoes, the bagel halves and capers. Now don't think I'm hating on Paula right now, because that just wouldn't be true. I think it's safe to say that most of her creations are kinda wacky but in small doses, she can sure add a lot of flavor to a meal.

It was in one of these deep-fried stupors that Hulu automatically played a video that stayed with me- Sweet Potato Doughnuts. Have I told you that I recently bought 25 pounds of sweet potatoes from my farmer? yeah, I did. And I kinda wanted to make something for him but since he only does produce and I usually don't go around handing out savory bakes goods, I wasn't quite sure what to make- until Paula.

First thing to do? Bake, peel and mash up some of those white sweet potatoes

Then, you make it into an easy dough, roll it out and cut out the doughnuts with whatever approximation of a biscuit cutter you can find. I used a juice glass and for the holes, the wide end of a pipping tip.

Heat you oil (or as Paula says "Ohl") to 360 degrees and drop in your doughnuts

Dip the warm doughnuts in icing and some chopped pecans.

It just doesn't get much better than this

Sweet Potato Doughnuts

Adapted from Paula Deen

Depending on the size, makes about 25-30 doughnuts

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup cooked mashed sweet potato (about 1 medium potato)
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Maple Icing, recipe follows
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In a large bowl, combine eggs, sour cream, and sweet potato. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring to combine. Heavily flour your counter and hands before kneading the dough. Roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Paula suggests cutting the dough out with a 2 1/4 inch round cutter, I used a straight edged juice glass of a similar size. The centers should be cut out with a 3/4-inch round cutter, I used a large metal pipping tip of about the same size. Re-roll dough as needed.

In a Dutch oven, heat vegetable oil over medium heat to 360 degrees F. Cook doughnuts, in batches, in hot oil, 2 minutes per side, or until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels. Ice top of doughnuts with Maple Icing, and sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Maple Icing:
2 2/3 cups confectioners' sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon maple extract

In a small bowl, combine confectioners' sugar and 3 tablespoons milk; stir well. Add additional milk to reach desired consistency. Stir in maple extract. If you can't find maple extract, try using about 3-4 tablespoons of maple syrup instead and only add milk as needed to thin out the icing.

And don't forget those doughnut holes!

Loving the fall

I just love this time of year. Even on day like today where the rain won't stop, I just can't wipe a silly grin off my face. The leaves have already started to turn (due to all that drought, no doubt) and it definitely smells like fall. Yesterday was my farmer's market day and I bought a bunch of apples that smelled so good it was out of this world. You just don't get produce that smells like that anymore- and they taste pretty darned good too!

I'm officially "in" with the vegetable farmer who now gives me a hug when I see him. I'm not trying to brag, but he gave me a $2 discount. My loot at the farmer's market was sizeable and I'm psyched to start cooking some fall recipes. In the lineup are:

I can't remember which one I was planning on doing, but here are two similar recipes: one is Apple-Parsnip Soup, the other is Curried Apple Soup

Kris is demanding a repeat from last year of The Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings

I love cooked apples! Spice Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Apples

My favorite farmer "convinced" me to stock up on sweet potatoes for the season. Gonna need a few more recipes to use up the 25 pounds in my garage. Two Potato Beet Hash with Poached Egg and Greens

Here's another one! Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

I made the original version of this (which is a Cinnamon Bun) for Christmas a few years ago and it was a huge hit. This year we're adding apples for some Caramel Apple Sticky Buns

This might be the most exciting thing I've ever seen: Pumpkin Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches

I also need to get my hands on a bottle of Eric Bordelet's Cider:

He is based in Normandy, which is in the Northwestern part of France and is famous for their ciders. When in Normandy, please try the butter. If Provence runs on Olive Oil, then Normandy runs on butter. And they use that delicious butter to make Crepe Sarrasin (a heavy but divine buckwheat crepe.) which should really only be had with some dry apple cider. Did I mention that Mr. Bordelet also make pear cider? Because he does and I might like pear cider even better.

Eric Bordelet with a 300 year old pear tree

forkandbottle.com

Let the fall season begin!

Finally Fall

Up at 8am on a Sunday gave me the chance to mess around in the kitchen before people started waking up and if there is any chance that I might be able to bake something before they do wake, I have to at least try. The latest issue of Cooking Light had a couple different banana bread recipes and this is the one for which I had most of the ingredients. Yes, I didn't have peanut butter, but I had spiced rum. It's the sort of household I run.

This recipe really turned out. It uses a lot of mashed bananas- and let's face it, when you have one black banana, you usually have 2 or 3. The orignal recipe used plain yogurt but I did not have that on hand, so I went with the dairy product I always have in my fridge: sour cream. I'll put sour cream on just about anything- strawberries, pizza, sweet potatoes ect. And it really works here too. You're just gonna have to trust me. Or substitute the yogurt back in!

Bananas Fosters Bread

Adapted from a Cooking Light recipe from October 2010

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups mashed ripe banana
• 1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted and divided
• 1/4 cup cognac or dark rum, divided
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 6.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine banana, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 5 tablespoons butter, and 3 tablespoons spiced rum in a nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat; cool. Place banana mixture in a large bowl. Add sour cream, remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, and eggs. Beat with a mixer at medium speed.

Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; place on wire rack.

Combine remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter, remaining 1 tablespoon cognac, and powdered sugar; stir until well blended. Drizzle over the warm bread

Now wouldya like a bushel of corn?

Do you know how much corn is in a bushel of corn? I had an idea that it was a lot. If it's a measure of unit used by a farmer, it's probably too much food for my kitchen. "But ya see, it's the end of the day so I can make you a real good deal." I already had 5 pounds of tomatoes, 3 sweet potatoes and 2 white and purple striped eggplants in hand. I had only brought so much cash. "you got a checkbook?" no. He noticed my shirt. "you work here?" no, but I work at site down the street. "I tell you what, you go get your car and pull it up here and I'll bring the corn over. You just come back next week with $15." I'll be right back.

For your information, a bushel of corn is about 50 ears- as in: I'm up to my ears in corn! and I couldn't be happier!

Blackberry, Lavender & Goat's Milk Ice Cream

When my mom came back to the U.S. for the summer, she was dying to get back in the kitchen and we were both feeling pretty ambitious. We had plans for dinner parties, pickling, jamming, making our own butter and after an incredible dinner at Sean's Panorama in Syndey, a hankering to make some homemade goat's curd.


Trader Joe's happens to sell goat's milk and we thought the battle was already won but some Internet research showed that to make goat's curd or goat cheese, you can't really use the Ultra Pasteurized kind. Not wanting to let carton go to waste, we had to find something else which was unnaturally easy when Alinea at Home posted an "at Home Adaption" of raspberry, goat's milk, red pepper taffy, pistachio.

This ice cream was pretty phenomenal. You can really taste the lavender (if it's still fresh!) and the goat's milk makes for a very creamy custard. It's the kind of treat that takes people off guard because although it sounds fancy and complex, the flavor combo is very accessible- especially if you pair it with the pistachio brittle (which I will definitely make again for Christmas).

Blackberry, Lavender & Goat's Milk Ice Cream
Adapted from Alinea at Home who adapted from the Alinea Cookbook

Ingredients

• 2 cups goat milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch salt
• 1 tblsp food-grade lavender buds
• 1 quart blackberries
• 6 egg yolks
• 2 cups heavy cream
• dash vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, warm the goat's milk, sugar and salt just until the sugar has dissolved. Turn off the flame, add the lavender and let steep, covered for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, put the cream in a large bowl with a strainer set over it. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs.
After the milk has been infused, strain the liquid into a saucepan and discard the lavender buds. Heat the mixture over medium-low heat and then add a few ladles to the egg mixture, stirring to incorporate. Add another ladle or so, whisking and stirring the whole time and then add the milk/egg mixture back into the saucepan over medium heat. Keep stirring the mixture until it coats the back of a wooden spoon. Poor the mixture through the mesh strainer, into the heavy cream. Add a dash of vanilla. Let the mixture cool completely and then chill in fridge before continuing.

Before churning the ice cream, mash up the blackberries a bit- I spread them onto a cookie sheet and used a potato masher. Add these to the mixture and then churn the whole thing in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

Pistachio Brittle

Adapted from the Alinea Cookbook, page 92

Ingredients

• 165g (5.8 oz.) pistachios, roasted and salted!
• 465g (1 lb. .4 oz.) sugar
• 72g (2.5 oz.) water
• 5g (.2 oz.) baking soda

Heat the sugar and water to 342F degrees (172C), then turn off the burner. Add the baking soda which will cause the mixture to foam and bubble- then add the pistachios. Pour the mixture onto a silpat lined baking sheet or if you're lucky enough like me, pour it straight onto a granite counter top. Let it harden to room temperature. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container. Try not to eat it all at once.

Lime Chiffon Cupcakes

Good grief do I have a doozy of a recipe to share! And it all started with a wedding. Oh no, not me! But one of Kris's close friends is getting married next year and it got me thinking about what I would maybe one day want should I ever decide to get hitched. The first thing to consider of course, is the food. I think some good ol'country food would be grand. Maybe with a French twist as an homage to my heritage. Smithfield ham and Dijon Moutarde? Sweet potatoes would have to make an appearance, as would corn. This is starting to sound like Thanksgiving... Holiday food aside, my biggest pickle would actually be the wedding cake. Although I love to bake and decorate, I never wake up in the middle of the night hankering for some cake. Weird, I know. Most of them are too chocolaty or dense and sweet. Buttercream is delicious- one teaspoon at a time.

This theoretical problem stayed with me for a few days until I just had to sit down and think about it and came upon a Lime Chiffon Cake recipe. Not too dense or sweet! A departing intern at work was the perfect excuse to try it out. And it was very good. Very pretty too. But I could do better...

The lime filling was delicious but there wasn't enough with each bite and I didn't like Cooking Light's frosting which was made with Cool Whip. Also, not enough frosting in general. The Solution? Cupcakes! For the frosting I went with a whipped cream frosting that has a block of cream cheese in it to keep it sturdy and delicious. A bit of lime juice and ginger essence thrown in for good measure and we were good to go. Did I mention delicious? Because these were DELICIOUS. Just about perfect in every way I could conceive of for a cake OR cupcake. At least, to me.

Lime Chiffon Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes about 36 cupcakes

Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients

Lime Filling:

• 1 tsp lime zest
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Lime Chiffon Cake:

• 2 cups sifted cake flour (7 1/2 ounces)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 7 tbls canola oil
• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
• 3 tbls water
• 1 tsp lime zest
• 1 tsp pure lemon extract
• 3 egg yolks
• 8 egg whites
• 1 tsp cream of tartar

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 8oz block of cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp ginger essence
• 4 tbls lime juice
• 2 cups whipping cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

To make the cake, in a large bowl combine 2 cups cake flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk well to remove any clumps. In another bowl, whisk to combine the oil, lime juice, water, lime zest, lemon extract and 3 egg yolks. Add the oil mixture to the flour mixture and whisk well until it is smooth.

In the bowl of a mixer, whisk the egg whites on high speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue mixing at high speed. Once the whites have reached the soft peak stage, add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time. Keep beating until the egg whites are stiff.

Fold 1/4 of the stiff egg whites into the cake batter. Once incorporated, add the remaining stiff egg whites, carefully folding the mixture until homogeneous.

Fill your cupcake liners almost full and bake for about 15 minutes or until the tops are starting to turn golden brown and the cake is receding from the sides. Let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile make your lime filling by combining the sweetened condensed milk, the lime juice and lime zest. Refrigerate until needed.

To make the frosting, in the bowl of a mixer, add the softened cream cheese, sugar, ginger essence and lime juice. Mix on high until smooth and fluffy. On medium speed, slowly pour in the whipping cream. Mix on high until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until needed.

To assemble- with a small sharp knife, cute a cone out of the top the cupcake and cut off the the bottom of the cone. Fill the cupcake with lime filling and replace the cupcake top. Frost the top of the cupcake to cover the cut and garnish with blueberries and mint leaves.

If you are making these on your own, it will probably be easiest to fill all the cupcakes at once and then frost them. If you have a partner in crime, an assembly line will be easiest where one person fills the cupcakes and the other frosts. Just be sure to let everyone decorate!