02.22.10
Posted in food, home cooking, pasta at 2:11 am by wingerz
Artichokes are kind of a pain to prep, but they’re plentiful this time of year (and also delicious). This recipe is braindead simple (once the artichokes are ready) and really good. I mixed in some grated Asiago cheese and lightly roasted asparagus and served it over spaghetti.
Braised Artichokes with Tomatoes and Rosemary
from Perfect Vegetables
1 lemon, cut in half
4 medium artichokes
3 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary
salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1. Squeeze the lemon juice into a large bowl filled with cold water. Drop the spent lemon halves into the water. Cut off the stem and top quarter. Then, to get to the heart of the artichoke, bend back and snap off the outer leaves, leaving the thick bottom portion attached to the base. Continue snapping off the leaves until you reach the light yellow cone at the center. With a small knife, carefully trim off the dark green outer layer from the bottom of the artichoke. Cut off the dark section of the top. Halve the raw hearts to remove the the purple leaves and the fuzzy choke with a sharp-edged spoon, then quarter. Cut into 1-inch wedges and drop them into the bowl of water until ready to cook.
2. Heat the oil in a large sate pan or deep skillet over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Drain the artichokes and add them to the pan along with the tomatoes, wine, rosemary, 1/4 tsp salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan, turn the heat down to medium, and simmer until the artichokes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes. Add more salt, if necessary, to taste.
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02.08.10
Posted in baking, dessert, food, home cooking at 1:06 am by wingerz
Wow, the farmer’s market still has strawberries. Wasn’t expecting to have them all winter long. This was dessert tonight, and I’d definitely make it again.
Rich and Tender Shortcakes with Strawberries and Whipped Cream
from Cook’s Illustrated
Topping
3 pints fresh strawberries , hulled; 1 pint crushed with potato masher or fork, 2 pints quartered
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
Shortcakes
2 cups bleached all-purpose flour , plus more for work surface
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar for sprinkling
1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons), frozen
1 egg , beaten
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon half-and-half
1 egg white , lightly beaten
Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream , chilled (preferably pasteurized or pasteurized organic)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Mix crushed and quartered berries with sugar in medium bowl; set aside while preparing biscuits (or up to 2 hours).
2. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position; heat oven to 425 degrees. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and 3 tablespoons sugar in food processor, pulse to combine. Add cold butter that has been cut into half-inch pieces and continue to pulse until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal flecked with pea-sized bits of butter. Pour the mixture into a bowl; stir in the egg and half-and-half with a rubber spatula until the mixture comes together.
4. Pat dough into 9- by 6-inch rectangle, 3/4 inch thick. Cut dough into six pieces (original recipe says to cut into 2 3/4″ rounds, but I don’t own a biscuit cutter). Place 1 inch apart on small baking sheet; brush dough tops with egg white and sprinkle with remaining sugar. (Can be covered and refrigerated up to 2 hours before baking.) Bake until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Place baking sheet on wire rack; cool cakes until warm, about 10 minutes.
5. Chill nonreactive, deep, 1- to 1 1/2-quart bowl and beaters for a handheld mixer in freezer for at least 20 minutes. Add cream, sugar, and vanilla to chilled bowl; beat on low speed until small bubbles form, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium; continue beating until beaters leave a trail, about 30 seconds more. Increase speed to high; continue beating until cream is smooth, thick, and nearly doubled in volume, about 20 seconds for soft peaks or about 30 seconds for stiff peaks. If necessary, finish beating by hand to adjust consistency. (Can be transferred to fine sieve or strainer set over measuring cup and refrigerated up to 8 hours).
6. Split each cake crosswise; spoon a portion of berries and then a dollop of whipped cream over each cake bottom. Cap with cake top; serve immediately.
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01.31.10
Posted in fish, food, home cooking at 3:37 pm by wingerz
I first had something like this over at Nick and Ceida’s place. The salmon is wonderfully silky-smooth. As always, use good fish and don’t overcook.
In the photo, topped with a tangerine-ginger relish and accompanied by a shrimp salad. Recently I served it with couscous with wild mushrooms and a creamy cucumber-dill salad.
Oven-roasted Salmon
from Cook’s Illustrated
1 skin-on salmon fillet (1 3/4 to 2 pounds), about 1 1/2 inches at thickest part (see note)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Following step by step illustrations below, use sharp knife to remove any whitish fat from belly of fillet and cut into 4 equal pieces. Make 4 or 5 shallow slashes about an inch apart along skin side of each piece, being careful not to cut into flesh.
2. Pat salmon dry with paper towels. Rub fillets evenly with oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees and remove baking sheet. Carefully place salmon skin-side down on baking sheet. Roast until centers of thickest part of fillets are still translucent when cut into with paring knife or instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of fillets registers 125 degrees, 9 to 13 minutes. Transfer fillets to individual plates or platter.
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01.02.10
Posted in equipment, food, home cooking at 3:01 am by wingerz
- Cream scones
Easy and delicious, especially with fresh fruit jam. This might be my favorite recipe of the year; I’ve made it at least five times, probably more.
- Peach pie (lattice)
Lattice-top is impressive but easier than it looks.
- Fresh fruit tart
Ultimate summer dessert. I miss fresh peaches.
- Braised short ribs
Tender beef in a rich sauce. Works well as a make-ahead recipe.
- Shrimp fra diavolo
I love shrimp.
I’m sad to have not included a fish recipe in the top 5, maybe next year.
Of the new kitchen equipment I acquired, the food processor that I got for Christmas last year has been life-changing. I use it to mix all sorts of doughs for pastries, pies, and pasta. Recently I’ve been using it to grate potatoes and carrots. It’s quite an amazing machine.
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12.31.09
Posted in baking, dessert, food, home cooking at 1:16 pm by wingerz
I’m surprised that I’ve never posted a pecan pie recipe. It’s a staple of Liao holiday celebrations. I like this recipe a lot because it has a ton of maple syrup instead of corn syrup. Of course, it doesn’t mean that it’s any less sweet, and it also doesn’t mean that I like pecan pie.
Maple Pecan Pie
from Cook’s Illustrated
4 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
3 large eggs
1 cup maple syrup , pure, preferably Grade B or Grade A dark amber
1 1/2 cups whole pecans (6 ounces), toasted and chopped into small pieces
1. Prep a pie crust like the one for the pumpkin pie.
2. Melt butter in medium heatproof bowl set in skillet of water maintained at just below simmer. Remove bowl from skillet; mix in sugar and salt with wooden spoon until butter is absorbed. Beat in eggs, then maple syrup. Return bowl to hot water; stir until mixture is shiny and warm to the touch, about 130 degrees. Remove from heat; stir in pecans.
3. Pour mixture into warm shell; bake until center feels set yet soft, like gelatin, when gently pressed, 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer pie to rack; let cool completely, at least 4 hours. Serve pie at room temperature or warm, with lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
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Posted in food at 12:54 pm by wingerz
I suppose that if I checked in on these midway through the year I would have realized that I was making no progress on them.
Focus on “weeknight” recipes. I get home after 730pm most nights so this has been a tough one – mostly sauteed vegetables, food that Jen brings home from work, or leftovers. Sundays have become cooking/baking day.
Eat less meat. We eat fish at least once per week, and I rarely cook red meat at home. I think we’re doing pretty well on this one.
Learn something about wine. Nope.
Teach Jen to cook. Jen’s output for the year: several batches of rice krispy treats, tacos for my birthday, pasta. She is also pretty good with the toaster oven! In other words, abysmal failure on my part.
Pay attention to dessert. Exceeded expectations on this one, went on a baking craze this summer and finally found a chocolate chip recipe that I can make well.
I also got better at making fish this year.
Will probably carry over a few from last year, but here are some new resolutions for 2010:
Keep the kitchen clean/organized as I cook. Our tiny kitchen is a disaster area, and the mess gets into the dining room as well.
Be more creative. Work with some new ingredients, go beyond the recipes.
Post more recipes. After spending hours in the kitchen, there isn’t always time to document the successes and failures.
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12.27.09
Posted in baking, dessert, food at 2:05 pm by wingerz
Accidentally left out some of the sugar so my snickerdoodles weren’t that sweet. Still pretty good though; I’d probably make them again. Supposed this is an ATK recipe but it’s nowhere to be found on their site. I used this snickerdoodle recipe which claims to be from ATK.
My snickerdoodles didn’t flatten out that much.
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Posted in baking, dessert, food at 1:58 pm by wingerz
Given their ubiquity, you’d think that chocolate cookies would be easy to bake. Unfortunately I’ve been somewhat terrified of making them due to several bad experiences, most likely resulting from using butter that wasn’t at the right temperature. Some recipes also suggest refrigerating the dough for 36 hours, but who has time for that?
I’m a big fan of this recipe, even though I overbaked the cookies by a few minutes the first time I made them. They’re chewy and have a nice toffee flavor thanks to the browned butter. Also, because I was lazy I baked two batches at once, even though the recipe calls for baking one batch at a time.
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Cook’s Illustrated
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces) (see note)
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (see note)
3/4 cup chopped pecan or walnuts, toasted (optional)
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)
5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.
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12.07.09
Posted in baking, dessert, food, home cooking at 1:09 am by wingerz
In a Thanksgiving mood, I baked three of these and took them to work. I haven’t eaten all that much pumpkin pie but I thought this was pretty good – almost a pumpkin custard pie. Would probably make them again, especially since I still have one can of pumpkin in my pantry.
This is a pretty fool-proof recipe. Only thing I would have done differently is to give the crust a few more minutes to brown.
Pumpkin Pie
from Cook’s Illustrated
1. Prep a single pie crust (all-butter, vodka), fluting the edges. Remove pie pan from refrigerator, line crust with foil, and fill with pie weights or pennies. Bake on rimmed baking sheet 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights, rotate plate, and bake 5 to 10 additional minutes until crust is golden brown and crisp. Remove pie plate and baking sheet from oven.
2. For the Filling: While pie shell is baking, whisk cream, milk, eggs, yolks, and vanilla together in medium bowl. Combine pumpkin puree, yams, sugar, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in large heavy-bottomed saucepan; bring to sputtering simmer over medium heat, 5 to 7 minutes. Continue to simmer pumpkin mixture, stirring constantly and mashing yams against sides of pot, until thick and shiny, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Remove pan from heat and whisk in cream mixture until fully incorporated. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl, using back of ladle or spatula to press solids through strainer. Rewhisk mixture and transfer to warm prebaked pie shell. Return pie plate with baking sheet to oven and bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and continue baking until edges of pie are set (instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 175 degrees), 20 to 35 minutes longer. Transfer pie to wire rack and cool to room temperature, 2 to 3 hours. Cut into wedges and serve.
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11.27.09
Posted in family, food, personal at 3:40 am by wingerz
Thanksgiving really is the best holiday – totally focused on the most important things in life: family, friends, and food. We decided to stick around here for the holiday; Ellen and Will came up with their dogs to celebrate with us.
I’m still in a food coma so I’m going to keep this short. The menu:
Roasted salted turkey with gravy: Not bad, but not quite as moist as I expected after reading about it. I may give it another shot some time. It was pretty good though, better than the pre-brined turkey I got last year but it sounds like it didn’t match the brined turkey from a few years back.
Mashed potatoes ATK make-ahead recipe, only required 15 minutes in the microwave today.
Stuffing with fennel and sausage: “Tastes kind of like your croutons,” according to Jen. I’ll take that as a compliment. Needed more fennel-y taste.
Salad: Red leaf lettuce, Granny Smith apple slices, plumped-up raisins, toasted almonds, with an creamy apple cider vinaigrette. I discovered the raisins at the farmer’s market. They’re amazing.
Picked cucumbers: Jen’s mom made some Asian pickled cucumbers.
Bread: Plain ol’ white bread.
Maple pecan pie: I always find this pie to be too sweet but the Liaos love their pecan pie so I can’t show up without it. This version of it has no corn syrup, which is great (just one cup of maple syrup instead).
Apple pie: brought by Ellen and Will.
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