R2R: Beef Wellington

This months host is Mz Kitchen of Madame Chow's Kitchen. She is helping us launch our new website and celebrate our 1 yr Anniversary with this great recipe! Beef Wellington! This is one of those fancy smancy dishes that was on my I'll never be able to make list. Guess what I was wrong :) Here is the official post Beef Wellington also check out the wonderful pictures here Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. If that doesn't convince you to make your own nothing will.

Beef Wellington

Ingredients
For the Duxelles:

3 pints (1 1/2 pounds) white button mushrooms
2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Beef:

1 (3-pound) center cut beef tenderloin (filet mignon), trimmed
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Flour, for rolling out puff pastry
1 pound puff pastry, thawed if using frozen (follow directions on the package)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
8 ounces mousse pate, available in specialty cheese and appetizer cases of larger markets (optional)

Directions

To make the Duxelles:

Add mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and thyme to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add butter and olive oil to a large saute pan and set over medium heat. Add the shallot and mushroom mixture and saute for 8 to 10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool completely.

To prepare the beef:

Tie the tenderloin in 4 places so it holds its cylindrical shape while cooking. Drizzle with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper and sear all over, including the ends, in a hot, heavy-based skillet lightly coated with olive oil - about 2 to 3 minutes.

Using a rubber spatula cover evenly with a thin layer of duxelles. Season the surface of the duxelles with salt and pepper and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves. When the beef is seared, remove from heat, cut off twine and smear lightly all over with Dijon mustard. Allow to cool completely.

I made the duxelles and seared the tenderloin about 10 hours in advance, and refrigerated both of them. It is important that these items are cold because you will be working with puff pastry, and if they're warm, they may cause the dough to melt before you get it in the oven.

About an hour before you plan to serve the Beef Wellington,preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry out to about a 1/4-inch thickness. Depending on the size of your sheets you may have to overlap 2 sheets and press them together.

Spread the duxelles mixture down in a column down the middle of the rolled out puff pastry. Thinly slice the mousse and cover the duxelles with it - every square millimeter doesn't have to be covered, but you're trying to make sure that every serving gets beef, duxelle, and mousse.

Remove beef from refrigerator. Set the beef in the center of the pastry and brush all the edges of the pastry with egg wash. Fold the longer sides over the beef, and seal. Trim ends if necessary then brush with egg wash and fold over to completely seal the beef - saving ends to use as a decoration on top if desired. Place the beef seam side down on a baking sheet.

Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash then make a couple of slits in the top of the pastry using the tip of a paring knife - this creates vents that will allow the steam to escape when cooking. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until pastry is golden brown and beef registers 125 degrees F (rare) on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from oven and rest before cutting into 3/4-inch thick slices

Temper's Take:
Being on a budget I made my own mousse with chicken livers, bacon and butter. I would do it differently if I did it again, more bacon grease for starters and cook the liver in smaller batches for quality control, but it wasn't have bad for liver paste.

The puff pastry crust was lovely and something I will be playing with in the future. But other than that I had a few issues. The biggest issues is I did not get the duxelles dry enough and so ended up with soup on the bottom of my pan. No biggy, next time I will know better, and there will be a next time my little mushroom friends, muhahahaha. Sorry about that, it had to be said.

The last issue was the biggest for me, Dijon mustard, blech! I hated what it did to the flavor! It had worked fine with the Steak Diane but here it was a total flop! I think I need to invest in a mustard I will actually eat and leave the emiril stuff alone.

This recipe definitely needs a redo, fortunately with a slightly cheaper cut of meat, and making my own pate I can afford it.

Cookie Carnival: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies, by Martha Stewart
These tender cookies are made with cream and studded with sweet strawberries for a portable version of a classic dessert.
INGREDIENTS:
Makes about 3 dozen.

* 12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
* 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
* 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
* 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
* 2/3 cup heavy cream
* Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining
7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in strawberry mixture.
2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing evenly apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until golden brown, 24 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool. Cookies are best served immediately, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.

Temper's Take:
They pretty much live up to their description a portable version of Strawberry Shortcake. I love real strawberry shortcake. During the summer we use to pick strawberries in 5 gallon buckets. There were evening when that was supper. And none of that sponge cake stuff you get from the unenlightened. Ah those were the days.

for an on the go treat these weren't bad, they went together quick which is good considering their short life span, but really I prefer the real stuff. maybe with some other fruit...

DB: Bakewell Tart

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding
Makes one 23cm (9” tart)

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Sweet shortcrust pastry

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Frangipane

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Temper's Take:
I chose to make a chocolate-cherry tart and mini-tarts with chocolate, lemon or black and blueberry jam. All were good, some were just better than others, more on that later. Would I make it again? Definitely (with some adjustments) it is pretty simple and looks and tastes fancy, whats not to like?

The best flavors where the lemon curd and the plain chocolate. I also preferred the mini-tart size, it was just so cute and bite sized! The almond flavor of the frangipane is so simple and delicate that the more complicated flavors overwhelmed it and the Morrelle Cherry jam was just to rich. The simple tartness of the lemons and the rich smoothness of the chocolate was a wonderful match. There are definitely other flavor combos out there I am going to have to play with.

I especially love the way the frangipane turned out, I was afraid it would have a puddeny texture but it was closer to a cake texture wise. The mini-tarts showed this better and I liked their color better, the tart fell a little when I removed it from the oven and got a bubbly top which wasn't as pretty. I think that is just an experience thing. I am thinking of using a pie pan instead of a tart pan next time so I can have more frangipane.

The crust had an exorbitant amount of butter in it and as I did not make a thick crust I couldn't see where it added that much to the flavor. Next time I may just go with a regular crust or try a different shortbread crust (I have one I use with cheese cake that is very nice).

4 stars and mushrooms

My love affair with mushrooms started in my childhood with Morels. Every spring my father and a bunch of friends would go morel hunting. Later while they were enjoying an orgy of mutual grooming (morel season is also tick season) Mom cook up the days bounty.

I will never forget the taste of those mushrooms. They were sweet and nutty and meltingly good. I have no idea what Mom did to them (other than use butter) but it was good. Every spring I still get the craving for morels but alas they are not to be found here in Texas and dried is just not the same.

It should there for come as no surprise when the Mushroom Council invited me to attend an event at Abacus to discuss mushrooms and their changing roles in cuisine and the food industry with recipe demo and 3 course meal by chef Kent Rathburn I jumped at it. I mean 4 star restaurant, Iron chef winner (take that Flay) and mushrooms, how could it be better?

I will tell you how, I got to meet Kelly of Evil Shenanigans, she was the other blogger present. The pictures in this post are from her since my camera batteries died after 1 picture. To be honest she did a better job then I ever could have. Go see her post about the event here.

Actually this post is just a teaser, I am writing an article about the experience for Blake Makes magazine that will have actual recipes and other cool information in it (but probably not alot of me gushing about how great it was).

Chef Kent Rathburn demonstrated three techniques for cooking mushrooms in three recipes featuring 6 diffrent readily available mushrooms. He did a 'Wood Grilled Portabella and Oyster Mushroom Pizza with Gorgonzola, Rocket Greens Salad', a 'Pan Roasted Shitake and Button Mushroom Linguine with Braised Veal Shank, Port Demi' and a 'Crimini and Maitake Mushroom Ragu with Grilled Romano Cheese Polenta'. It was easy to see why Chef Rathburn beat Flay on Iron Chef, all three dishes were fantastic and show cased the mushrooms beautifully. I have made up my mind it is worth saving the money for truely fine dining as opposed to eating out more often at chain resturaunts.

I will admit that the Pizza was my favorite (and with any luck it will be the recipe in the magazine). Two things in this dish reduced me to happy sounds and silly smiles. The first was of course the mushrooms, delicately smoked and oh so tender, good lord I could have eaten them straight up and been happy. The second thing was the oven roasted cherry tomatoes. They were like little savory raisins, sweet, tangy and a hint of herbs. These are definitely going on my make them often list and Indra can just suffer in her little tomato free zone, cause they are just that good. (I will put the instructions for these at the bottom of this post). He topped the pizza with a rocket and gorganzola salad, somehow all the flavors came together to make me like gogonzola and rocket salad with a lemon vinigret (not something I thought possible). This dish has made me rethink all those fancy cookbooks I have been shunning as pretensious and overly complicated.

The second dish was very good but just did not wow me. I will admit the veal was melt in you mouth smooth and flavorful, and perhaps that was the problem I wanted more of the delicious sauteed mushrooms darn it! Now I know veal is a bad word and I can understand the objections, I just am not sure I support the cause 100%. I definitly support eating tasty food, and veal fits that catagory, but all things considered it may be one of those foods that is just not worth the price for me.

The final dish was a revelation to me, the polenta cake was light and fluffy in texture, not something I thought you could do with polenta. Add some maitake mushrooms (Kelly and I both swore they had a sweet floral / honey note to them) and I was sold.

I learned that mushrooms are the only fruit or vegetable that contains vitamin D. Mushrooms are a very eco friendly crop (lots of recycling) and wasn't the video fun as it tried to avoid saying exactly what the major component in the growth medium was. We also learned that most mushroom growers would love to give you a tour of their facility. Definitely something I am going to try.

Don't forget to check out the Mushroom Councils website and Blog for recipes, news and contests.

To make Oven roasted Cherry tomatoes heat your oven to the extreemely high temprature of 180. cut your tomatoes in half and toss them with a little roasted garlic oil and herbs. spread face up on baking sheet and roast for about 1.5 hours. Nothing should get crispy. remove and enjoy, they will stay good for a week or so with proper care put they are not like raisin that you can stuff in the cupboard and will still be good months later.

DB: Apple Strudel!

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Pictures are coming this weekend, I killed my computer with all the pictures on it on Monday and won't have time to fis it until then.

Ok, this is one of those dishes I would not in a million years have guessed I could actually do. I am not known for my delicate touch or dexterity. So, if I can do it so can you!

The recipe can be found HERE. It is a long one but once you break it down really easy to do.

The dough has four ingredients (one is Water)and can be mixed by hand easily. The filling is as complicated as you make it, sliced apples cinnamon / sugar and raisins soaked in brandy is all the original recipe calls for. Or create your own goodness (I did a chocolate cherry jam one for variety). Throw in some browned bread crumbs and you are set.

The actual stretching of the dough went pretty well, there where some holes but nothing too major and I got it pretty darn thin. But I think next time I am going to play with the flour vs liquid ratios a little since my dough was stickier than I was happy with.

Temper's Take:
First of all let me say OH MY GOD chocolate cherry strudel is Luscious! This is a taste combination i will be playing with again. The apple was also good, I used dried cherries instead of raisins and it definitely worked fine. Next time I may use more.

The crust out of the oven was fine light crisp and layery, the humidity soon fixed that though and while still good it was not quite as flaky. The two issues I had was I used to many bread crumbs and for some reason my bottoms where a little overcooked making them tough.

Make again? Definitely, though I will be changing things up and maybe trying some individual sizes.

TC: Coconut Ice Cream

My partner for this months Taste and Create was Nicole of For the Love of Food. I actually did three recipes from her blog and have another couple I just didn't have time for. Her recipes are just what I like simple and good.

The coconut ice cream was the first thing that got put on my list. Indra and I both love coconut and I have been playing with my new ice cream machine looking for a good recipes. Coconut Ice Cream with Toffee chips definitely fits the bill.

Coconut Ice Cream with Toffee Chips

Ingredients:
1 Cup 2% Milk
8oz unsweetened Coconut milk that is creamy (we use Aroy-D 100% Coconut Milk original)
2 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream
1/8 Cup sugar
1 1/2 Cups sweetened Baker’s Coconut
1/4 Cup toffee chips
2 tablespoons alcohol(I used brandy)

Directions:
Make sure all your ingredients are extremely cold before beginning - when I made this recipe I had the chips and baker’s coconut in the freezer and the milk, coconut milk, and cream in the refrigerator.

No cooking is required, simply pour the cold liquid ingredients in your mixer with the sugar and wait until it is starting to thicken and then add the brandy, coconut and chips. Once it has finished churning put it in the freezer for at least an hour to firm up. (the alcohol should keep it soft enough to scoop.)

Temper's Take:
This was good, Indra even agreed. We liked the texture and the sweetness level was just right. It was perfect for a hot Texas Day.

We would have liked a more pronounced coconut flavor but that is something I can play with in the future.

R2R: Coq au Vin

For this months Recipe to Rival challenge I choose Coq au Vin, specifically Anthony Bourdain's Coq au Vin. I discovered Anthony Bourdain a couple months ago, so far I have read one of his cookbooks and two of his other books. I loved them all. It is the first cook book I have ever had swear at me. It was great, and this recipe is great too.


Coq au vin is a peasant recipe, As Anthony Bourdain has said "Coq au vin is an old, tough bird you have to drown in wine to get it to taste good. That'll be $28.95 please."

This it one of those recipes that is deceptively hard, with a little prep work it is easy as pie, maybe even easier. The secret is the mise en place. do it all ahead stuff it in the fridge and throw it all together when you are ready.

Coq au vin
from the Les Halles Cookbook, by Anthony Bourdain, Serves 4

1 bottle plus 1 cup of red wine
1 onion, cut into a 1-inch dice
1 carrot, cut into ¼-inch slices
1 celery rib, cut into ½ inch slices
4 whole cloves
1 tbs whole black peppercorns
1 bouquet garni
1 whole chicken, “trimmed” – wing tips and neckbone removed

salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tbs olive oil
6 tbs butter, softened
1 tbs flour
¼ lb lardons
½ lb small, white button mushrooms, stems removed
12 pearl onions, peeled
pinch of sugar

DAY ONE
The day before you even begin to cook, combine the bottle of red wine, the diced onion (that’s the big onion, not the pearl onions), sliced carrots, celery, cloves, peppercorns, and bouquet garni in a large deep bowl. Add the chicken and submerge it in the liquid so that all of it is covered. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

DAY TWO
Remove the chicken from the marinade and pat it dry. Put it aside. Strain the marinade through the fine strainer, reserving the liquids and solids separately. Season the chicken with salt and pepper inside and out. In the large Dutch oven, heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter until almost smoking, and then sear the chicken, turning it with the tongs to evenly brown it. Once browned, it should be removed from the pot and set it aside again. Add the reserved onions, celery, and carrot to the pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and golden brown. That should take about 10 minutes.

Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and mix well with the wooden spoon so that the vegetables are coated. Now stir in the reserved strained marinade. Put the chicken back in the pot, along with the bouquet garni. Cook this for about 1 hour and 15 minutes over low heat.

While your chicken stews slowly in the pot, cook the bacon lardons in the small sauté pan over medium heat until golden brown. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain it on paper towels, making sure to keep about 1 tablespoon of fat in the pan. Saute the mushroom tops in the bacon fat until golden brown. Set them aside.

Now, in the small saucepan, combine the pearl onions, the pinch of sugar, a pinch of salt, and 2 tablespoons of butter. Add just enough water to just cover the onions; then cover the pan with the parchment paper trimmed to the same size of the pan. (I suppose you can use foil if you must.) Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the water has evaporated. Keep a close eye on it. Remove the paper cover and continue to cook until the onions are golden brown. Set the onions aside and add the remaining cup of red wine along with salt and pepper and reduce over medium-high heat until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.

When the chicken is cooked through – meaning tender, the juice from the thigh running clear when pricked – carefully remove from the liquid, cut into quarters, and arrange on the deep serving platter. Strain the cooking liquid (again) into the reduced red wine. Now just add the bacon, mushrooms, and pearl onions, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, and swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Now pour that sauce over the chicken and dazzle your friends with your brilliance. Serve with buttered noodles and a Bourgone Rouge.

Tips
1. An old bird is best, hard to find though. Ideally you are looking for a stew chicken or an old rooster, I recommend a Kosher or Halal meat market (remember they have no pork though).
2. Bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs usually tied together with string, most recipes include parsley, thyme and bay leaf
3. Lardon may refer to different pork products cut from a pig's belly and used for larding in French cuisine. In this case you are looking for slab or country bacon, cut into small oblongs (lardons) about ¼ by 1 inch. I used salt pork, which did not smell like bacon cooking but tasted pretty good. Either way a good thick bacon with alot of nice fat and not alot of additives is what you are looking for.
4. the wine should be red, other than that pick what suits your pallet and wallet. But here is a helpful guide as well, Wine With...Coq au Vin

Temper's Take:
This was alot easier then I expected, it was also very good. Next time I would use chicken parts rather than the whole chicken just to make life easier. I would also make sure I had some nice crusty bread handy.

Truthfully The combination of mushrooms, pearl onions and bacon is hard to beat for me no matter what you do with it. And this was an excellent application, it was even better the second day. Definitely on my do again list, I just wish finding old chickens was easier.

DB: Cheese Cake

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

I have made cheese cake in the past, from several different recipes in fact, but this one came with directions on how to prevent that dreaded crack, and a water bath for increased creaminess, very very good! I however was a rebel and tried something different, no bake cheese cake, no not that stuff from JELLO, cheese cake ice cream!

First the official instructions and then what I did.

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:

crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter, melted
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:

3 sticks of cream cheese, (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla and lemon juice and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.

For the ice cream I basically cut the recipe in 1/3 added a little sugar and then added enough milk to make up the difference in my machine.

Cheese Cake Ice cream

8oz of cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 tbsp. lemon juice
1/3 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups milk

cook over medium heat stirring constantly until it reaches a temp of 160. Remove to the fridge to cool down for several hours. Proceed as directed by your machine.

I used a springform pan and the graham cracker crust to pour my finished Ice cream in. I then served it with some Black and Blue Jelly.

Temper's Take:
Ok I admit I also made the cheese cake and while it was good it isn't the best I have made. The tips that came with the recipe were invaluable to me though.

The ice cream turned out fabulous, Indra even asked for more :) It had a great texture and the jelly set it off to perfection! It is easy enough that I am thinking it is going to be used again next time we have company this summer.

BBD: Bunny Rolls

For this months Bread Baking Day event I choose to make Easter Bunny Rolls. I found the recipe here, when looking for something that really said Easter to me. After all what says Easter like bunnies?

BBD #19 - Spring Country Bread is hosted by Cindystar. to quote her...

It will be Easter in a few days and I would like to share with you a virtual pic-nic on Easter Monday. In Italy it's a popular tradition to have an outdoor trip in the countryside, on that special festive day all families and friends gather together, lay a blanket or a tablecloth on the grass and have a sort of epicurean brunch (never missing hard boiled eggs, part of tradition!)with children enjoy playing outdoor and adults lazily enjoying the first warm spring sun.
And my theme would like to be a celebration to Spring with Spring Country Breads.

Easter Bunny Rolls
This recipe is from a 1959 vintage holiday cookbook.

1 package yeast
1/4 c water, lukewarm
1 c milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
1/2 c butter melted in the hot milk
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp salt
5-5 1/2 c flour
2 eggs, room temperature, beaten
1/4 c orange juice, lukewarm
2 Tbs grated orange peel

1. Dissolve yeast in water.
2. Blend milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Make sure that the mixture is lukewarm. Stir in 2 cups of the flour.
3. Add eggs, beat well. Stir in yeast, orange juice, and peel. Add enough of the remaining flour to make a dough. Let rest for 10 minutes.
4. Knead dough 10 minutes, or until elastic, on a floured surface. Place in a greased bowl, turn to grease top, cover and allow to rise until double. About 2 hours.
5. Punch down, cover, and allow to rest 10 minutes.
6. On a lightly floured surface roll dough into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Cut dough in strips about 1/2 inch wide and roll between hands to smooth.
7. You can make these into two kinds of bunnies.

For twist bunnies (the one that looks like it is sitting upright):
1. For each bunny you will need a 14 inch strip of dough. On a lightly greased cookie sheet lap one end of the strip over the other to form a loop. Now, bring the end that is underneath up over the top end, letting each end extend to the sides to form ears. Pat tips of ears to make a point.
2. Roll a small ball of dough and put it on the bottom loop for a tail. Let rise until double.

For “Grazing” Bunnies:
1. For each bunny you will need a 10 inch piece of dough for the body and a 5 inch strip for the head.
2. On a lightly greased cookie sheet make a loose swirl for the body with the longer strip, and one for the head with the smaller strip. Place the head close to the body. To add the ears pinch off 1 1/2 inch strips of dough and roll to form ears. Place next to the head. Use a little bit of dough to make a small ball for the tail. Allow to double.

The second rise will take from 45-60 minutes. Bake at 375 for 12 -15 minutes. Frost while warm with sugar glaze. Makes 2 1/2 dozen.

Sugar Glaze (I skipped this)

To 2 1/2 c confectioners sugar
1/4 c hot water
1 tsp butter.

1. Stir until blended.
2. Use this to brush over warm rolls.

Temper's Take:
I loved the subtle orange of this bread, the bread is good, darn good. The bread is plenty sweet with out the glaze but a nice orange glaze would be great too. Heck, it would be a great sweet roll period, maybe with some dried cherries.

The bunnies turned nicely bunny shaped (which I had been worried about) and were easier to form then I thought they would be. My favorites were the standing up ones.

Spaghetti Squash ala Esther

My Friend Esther is a true foodie, unfortunately she is also diabetic and managing it through diet, which means almost no carbs. I don't know about you but I don't think I could live that way. This was her suggestion of a side when we had Thanksgiving together.

Spaghetti Squash ala Esther

1 spaghetti squash, cut in half and deseeded
2 table spoons butter
Nutmeg (freshly grated is best)
Salt (kosher or sea, not table)
Pepper (fresh ground)
Dried Cranberries

Rub each half squash with a table spoon of butter, Sprinkle with nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste (I like it to look freckled) and then wrap in tinfoil.

Cook at 350 degrees until soft (test with a fork through the side or by squeezing gently).

loosen the sides with a fork and 'fluff'. I then sprinkle with the dried cranberries. It sits well and reheats great in the microwave making it great for family get togethers.

Temper's Take:
This turns out surprisingly rich tasting and the dried cranberries (my addition) offsets that beautifully. I have also used this method with Italian seasoning, a couple of meatballs, garlic and a sprinkling of parmesan with great results. As an additional plus spaghetti squash is cheap and it is easy to make, just what I want in a great dish.

R2R, Steak Diane Flambé

This months Recipe to Rival challenge was Steak Diane Flambé. I hosted with assistance from Shawnee of Delishes Delishes (ok, so she found the recipe and came up with the disclaimer and... well alot of other thing). As she said "I've never purposely set fire to my food before (besides marshmallows)". You know what, neither have I, about time wouldn't you say?

And here is the wonderful disclaimer:

Disclaimer: We do not require that you flambé, if you choose to flambé and burn down your kitchen, don't sue us. If you choose to flambé try and get a picture (I recommend getting someone to help). Remember when playing with fire keep a fire extinguisher close and never use water on a cooking fire.

Steak Diane Flambé
recipe by Frank Bordoni from Great Food Live.
Ingredients

For the steaks

4x85g beef medallions
1 tsp Dijon mustard
freshly ground salt and pepper

For the sauce

1 tsp Butter, clarified
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp Shallots, finely chopped
50g button mushrooms, finely sliced
1 tbsp lemon juice
125ml double cream
1 tbsp Chives, snipped
50ml Brandy

Method
1. Rub the medallions of beef with the mustard, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and when hot, add the clarified butter and Worcestershire sauce.
3. Add the shallots and mushrooms, and push to the centre of the pan. Arrange the medallions around the edge. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring and tossing the mushroom mixture as you go. If you prefer your steak well done, give it an extra minute or 2.
4. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
5. Turn the steaks over and pour in the cream and chives. Tilt the pan slightly (away from you) and pour in the brandy at the far end. Now turn up the heat to high so that the brandy ignites. Swirl the sauce around in the pan and turn off the heat.
6. Put the medallions on 4 plates, pour over the sauce and serve.

I served it with roasted asparagus (recipe later) and they went great with the sauce for left overs.

Temper's Take:
This was so easy, the flames where great (the pyromaniac in me is saying do it again!), and it was very nummy. The meat was a little undercooked for our pallets, and I wish I had got a nice brown coat on it like some of the others. But it is definitely something I will be doing again, maybe for company, it is fancy and easy, so perfect for entertaining.

Ricotta revisited: pancakes

Since my first shot at ricotta didn't turn out quite how I wanted I went back did a little research and tried again. The great recipes my fellow Recipes to Rival members submitted had nothing to do with it, honest. As it turns out I was overcooking the stuff, apparently 185 is not boiling, it is should in fact never boil. All I can say is oops and look what I did this time.

Ricotta

8 cups whole milk
2 cups dry white wine

1. Place buttermilk and milk in a pot, heat on med-low heat until it reaches 185 degrees.
2. It will begin to separate into curds and whey. Be sure to stir occasionally to make sure no curds stick to the bottom and burn. You will see that as the temperature approaches 185, the whey becomes clearer as the curds coagulate more.
3. Pour the curds into a cheesecloth lined colander. Tie the ends of the cheesecloth together and hang for 10-15 minutes. Remove from cheesecloth and place in an airtight container.

With it I made Ricotta Pancakes as featured on A Good Appetite by Kat. Also just in time for bbd #18 - Quick Breads hosted by Fun & Food Blog.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
(from Bobby Flay) Makes 10 pancakes.

3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t salt
2 T sugar (we used 3)
1 c ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 c milk
1 lemon, zested & juiced
black and blue jelly
powdered sugar
butter for the griddle

Whisk together the cheese, eggs, lemon zest & juice. Stir in the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt & sugar just until combined. Melt a little butter on a hot griddle. Pour 1/4 c of batter on the griddle for each pancake. Cook until brown on both sides, flipping once.

Top pancakes with black and blue jelly & a little powdered sugar.

Temper's Take:
I used my thermometer and low and behold at 180 had clear whey and curds. no boiling no scorching and the end result was not dry. I still over cooked it a tad (wasn't patient enough reading the thermometer) but much better, and the wine added a nice subtle fruity element.

Which made it perfect for the pancake. the dough was thick, almost muffiny, which got me thinking and I may be experimenting in the future. I ate the first several straight and they were wonderful, tangy and light, just great. I wasn't as impressed once I added the powdered sugar and black and blue jelly. Next time I think fresh fruit is the way to go or something lighter like whipped cream. And there will definitely be a next time for these.

Cream of Mushroom soup

Ever since I had this a year ago I have wanted to make it for myself. I was stopped in this pursuit because I was sure it came from Alton Brown. I still swear the recipe I printed out back then said Alton Brown on it, it certainly is Good Eats. On the other hand The Barefoot Contessa's recipe is pretty much what I remember.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Ingredients
5 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms
5 ounces fresh portobello mushrooms
5 ounces fresh cremini (or porcini) mushrooms
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1/4 pound (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 carrot, chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme plus 1 teaspoon minced thyme leaves, divided
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions
Clean the mushrooms by wiping them with a dry paper towel. Don't wash them! Separate the stems, trim off any bad parts, and coarsely chop the stems. Slice the mushroom caps 1/4-inch thick and, if there are big, cut them into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

To make the stock, heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large pot. Add the chopped mushroom stems, the onion, carrot, the sprig of thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Add 6 cups water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid. You should have about 4 1/2 cups of stock. If not, add some water.

Meanwhile, in another large pot, heat the remaining 1/4 pound of butter and add the leeks. Cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the leeks begin to brown. Add the sliced mushroom caps and cook for 10 minutes, or until they are browned and tender. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and stir for another minute, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the mushroom stock, minced thyme leaves, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the half-and-half, cream, and parsley, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and heat through but do not boil. Serve hot. (I like it with toasted bits of nice crusty bread.)

Temper's Take:
MMMMmmmm Good! I left out the flour so it was a little thinner than I preferred. Still good though. I think sourdough makes the best bread to go with it, the tang of the bread offsets the richness of the soup nicely. I used plain ol baby portabellas for the mushroom, but I think I would really like to try it with some other varieties. I also learned that homemade veggie broth is the way to go.

Birthday Pie

Yesterday was my birthday, and as buirthdays go it wasn't half bad. A friend got me a rice cooker and I got myself an icecream maker (and recipe book). I had the day off work so I slept in and had french toast made with french bread and real maple syrup for brunch. for supper it was the freezer section, cheese enchiladas and apple pie.

I like pie, I like pie alot and since I was not going to cook on my birthday that ment no chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting or rhubarb cake, no rhubarb either :(, so my second choice is pie, I like almost all of them, but fruit pies are my favorites, berries, cherries and apples (but not blueberry) are all good.

The highlight of my day is discovering you can make a wishlist on Target.com, I spent alot of time windows shopping and marking all the things I plan on getting. Oh how I drooled over the Kitchen Aides, and I was seriously eyeing the pasta maker before I decided the ice cream maker would be a better deal.

So happy birthday to me and I hope you had a good day as well.

Ginger Pear Balsamic Pork Tenderloin

I received some lovely Ginger Pear Balsamic vinegar from a friend who had purchased it at Target and then discovered it had to many carbs for her diet. So I got lucky and have a new toy to play with. My first thought was wouldn't that be good with pork (I might have been influenced by the pork loin in the freezer). So off to google to find recipes. I found alot of inspiration but one recipe really jumped out at me. So with out further ado, here it is.

Based off Raspberry Vinegar Pork Chops Recipe from Taste of Home. I had to make a few changes based on what I had available but it is basically the same recipe.

Ginger Pear Balsamic Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pork tenderloins (1-inch thick)
1/4 cup Ginger Pear Balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
fresh Sage
Fresh Rosemary

Directions:
Melt butter in a large skillet, add oil. Brown the pork on each side over high heat. Pour off oil; reduce heat to medium-low. Add 1 tablespoons vinegar and garlic. Cover; simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove pork to heated container; cover to keep warm. Add remaining vinegar; stir up browned bits from bottom of skillet. Raise heat and boil until the vinegar is reduced to a thick glaze. Add the sage, rosemary and chicken stock. Boil until liquid is reduced to half of the original volume.
Strain sauce; season with the salt and pepper. Spoon over chops.

I paired this with roasted sweet potato fries that had been tossed in the vinegar and a little oil, then sprinkled with sea salt. I set them to roast while I did the pork (I actually gave it a 15 minute head start).

Temper's Take:
This was so good I did my happy food dance (so named by the Frogman). Who knew vinegar could be so good when reduced, and why didn't they tell me? I literally licked the pan clean (and then my fingers), so uncouth I know but it was that good.

Indra, said it was good, but she missed the Lowery's seasoning salt I usually use, and why do I have to cook so fancy. She also said the sauce tasted like a Christmas tree (the rosemary and balsamic reduction was to blame I am sure, next time I will use something besides rosemary) and the roasted sweet potato fries reminded her of apples (she was right. the vinegar and sweet potatoes combined to taste like apples). so I have permission to do it again if I do some with Lowery's first, I call that a success.