Slow and Easy Wins the Race

I did it!  I finally broke down and bought a slow cooker!  Then I checked out a bunch of cookbooks and found, much to my chagrin, that this is NOT one-pot cooking.  In fact, you dirty a lot more pots and pans, because you end up sauteeing everything first, then putting it all into the slow-cooker, then sometimes even sauteeing it all AGAIN!  So why do it?

Well, it is nice to be able to have a warm meal ready and waiting for you when you'd like it.  Sometimes you don't want to cook during that hour right before dinner.  And maybe your family has a particular weakness for very tender meat.

This recipe dirties one pot/pan (I traditionally use one of those Le Creuset dutch ovens for all my pre-slow-cooker cooking), one baking sheet, and then the slow cooker.  You have to cook the stuff again after the slow-cooker part, but I just used the same pan again.  If you line the baking sheet with parchment paper, then the baking sheet doesn't get too messy.  This dinner was a huge hit with everyone in the family and I got 2 dinners out of it!

slow -cooked teriyaki chicken - art of the slow cooker, by andrew schloss

1 T vegetable oil

4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8), bone-in (or you can mix thighs and drumsticks)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T finely grated gingerroot

1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 T water

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup sherry or apple juice

1 T rice wine vinegar

2 T dark molasses

3 T honey

2 t cornstarch

1 t dark sesame oil

2 scallions, trimmed and cut into thin slices

heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. brown the chicken thighs in batches on both sides, about 3 minutes per side, then transfer to a 5 - 6 quart slow cooker. 

add the garlic and ginger to the skillet and cook over med-high heat until aromatic, about 30 seconds. add the 1/4 cup of water and scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet. add the soy sauce, sherry/apple juice, rice wine vinegar, molasses, and honey and stir to blend. pour over the chicken, cover the cooker, and cook on high for 2 -3 hours, until the chicken is cooked through. 

preheat the broiler to high.  remove the chicken to a rimmed baking tray lined with parchment paper and broil for 2 minutes on each side.  while the chicken is broiling, pour the liquid from the cooker into a skillet. bring to a boil over med-high heat. dissolve the cornstarch in the 1 1/2 T of water, add to the sauce in the skillet, and stir until the sauce is lightly thickened, about 1 minute. arrange the chicken on a platter and spoon the sauce over top. drizzle with sesame oil, and sprinkle with the scallions. 

Pumpkin Fun

Little Man has a near-Halloween birthday, so we tend to make a lot out of autumn-themed festivities.  One such activity is the carving of the Jack O Lantern.  This year I think we're still going with insect-themed luminaries.  We will unveil those soon along with a Pumpkin Gelato recipe that Major Obvious is making this afternoon.  In the meantime, here are some of our previous pumpkins and a link to the World Wildlife Federation's stencil page (the source of our butterfly jack o lantern this year).

Happy Carving!

Lunchbox Treats - Pound Cake

Is lunch complete without something sweet?  No.

Original Pound Cake - King Arthur Flour 

Ingredients:

2 cups (4 sticks) butter
2 to 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
8 extra large or 9 large eggs
4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons brandy or sherry
2 teaspoons vanilla, almond or other flavoring

Directions:

To lighten the cake, separate the eggs before you begin. After creaming the butter and adding the sugar, beat in just the egg yolks. Beat the whites separately until they form stiff peaks, and fold them in after all the other ingredients have been combined.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, cream the butter until very light. Add the sugar gradually and then the eggs, one by one, and continue beating until the mixture is very light and fluffy. (An electric mixer can be most helpful and effective here.)

When you cream butter, it may seem at the beginning as if you're just mashing it flat. But if you persevere, you'll begin to see it get "fluffy." What you're really doing is adding air. When you beat the butter with sugar, it becomes even fluffier, evidence of more air. And when the eggs are beaten in, the fluffiness is at its peak. That's why this part of the mixing is so important. The more air bubbles you can beat in at this stage, the more air bubbles there are to expand in the heat of the oven. Baking powder or soda can do part of the work of leavening, but the more air bubbles you can get into a batter manually, the finer and lighter the texture of the finished cake.

In a separate bowl, blend together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Pour the milk into a third small bowl, mix the brandy and vanilla, or whatever flavoring you're partial to.

Alternately add the wet and dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Pour into a lightly greased tube pan, or two 5 x 9-inch bread pans, and bake for about 1 hour or until the top surface of the cake springs back when you press on it gently with your fingers.

Dirty Dozen

Ok, ok, we get it.  We're supposed to buy organic everything.  We're supposed to buy locally-sourced everything.  But that's exhausting and food is supposed to be FUN.

So is there a crib sheet that tells you when you're really supposed to buy organic?  Thankfully, there is!  More importantly, if you want to buy non-organic fruit or veggies, this list will tell you where you can take some shortcuts if you can't find organic or if your wallet just can't handle the prices. 

Environmental Working Group has published a list of produce that tells you what produce you really should buy organic and which ones aren't so pesticide-ridden, even if they aren't organically-grown.  You can download the guide here and they even have it in app form if you want to just download it to your smartphone.  If you want the app, just type in "dirty dozen" in the App Store.

For those of you who cannot be bothered to click on hyperlinks and want to end the suspense right now, here are the 12 foods that you should buy organic:

Apples
Celery
Cherries
Grapes
Lettuce
Nectarines
Peaches
Strawberries
Spinach
Cucumbers
Blueberries - domestic
Potatoes

Naturally, I was horrified to discover that foods that I buy for my family all of the time (apples, peaches, bell peppers, blueberries) I often buy non-organic.  Whoops!  Oh well, time to attempt improvement and just move forward.

Aspen Eats

We've recently moved to Colorado Springs!  Major Obvious had Labor Day off, so we headed to Aspen for a family getaway.  When asked, "What are you going to do in Aspen in the off-season," our response was an emphatic, "EAT!"

Yogurt parfait at BB's Kitchen

And wow, did we eat.  We loved breakfast at BB's Kitchen, where Little Man dove into a yogurt parfait, "This is delicious!"  Sweet Pea had a Belgian waffle with fresh berries, Major Obvious had some kick-ass Huevos Rancheros, and I had the decadent and toothsome Lobster Eggs Benedict.  Mmmm, that Benedict was really something.  There were homemade English muffins, huge pieces of tender lobster, loads of asparagus spears, and a perfect amount of dreamy Hollandaise.  Can you tell that I miss it?

A great lunch can be had at Ajax Tavern, which is located at the gondola base of Aspen Mountain.  Kids can have white cheddar pasta or enormous cheeseburgers while grown ups partake in regular or little plates.  Some fun little plates include lamb short ribs or truffle oil fries (those fries, incidentally, do NOT come on a little plate, but in an enormous cone).  I can heartily recommend the Lobster Roll, which I shamelessly had only hours after my Lobster Eggs Benedict.

Dinnertime is well-spent at Rustique, the country French bistro that Jacques Pepin supposedly visits when in Aspen.  (I suspect that he hangs out in the kitchen and makes little things with the chef instead of actually just eating there like a mere mortal).  The menu at this cozy place has great classics like frog legs (Little Man's favorite), escargot, cheese souffles, artichoke gratin, and mussels.  After eating such delicacies, we barely had any room in our stomachs, but manned up for the super-tasty homemade ice cream and sorbet.  With one of the best wine lists in Aspen and tempting tidbits such as warm, crusty bread and foie gras, it's a miracle we made it out of there alive.  The wait staff is extremely friendly and attentive.  They are ready with answers to questions or will enthusiastically cheer you on as you crazily order the entire menu.  They also have a lot of information about the area and will point you towards great sandwich venues, places for kids to have a great time, etc.

Brunch Time - Crepes and Sausages

Sunday brunch at this house usually consists of some kind of sausage, some form of pancake or crepe, and whatever fresh fruit we can scrape up.  I am amazed at the presence of wonderful blueberries, raspberries and strawberries available at the market this time of year.  I suppose our proximity to Mexico and South America has its advantages.  Even though it feels strange to eat strawberries and raspberries in December, we aren't going to complain!  (Yes, yes...we try to eat locally grown produce, but sometimes we have to indulge, don't we?)

Crepes:

• 2/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) sugar
• 3/4 cup(s) nonfat milk
• 1 tablespoon(s) corn or canola oil
• A little additional oil for greasing the skillet

Directions

1. Combine the flour, eggs, sugar, and 1/4 cup of the milk in a bowl, and mix with a whisk until smooth. (The mixture will be fairly thick.) Add the remaining milk and the tablespoon of oil, and mix until smooth.
2. Lightly grease the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch nonstick skillet with a little oil or butter, and heat the pan over medium to high heat. When it is hot, add about 3 tablespoons of the crêpes batter, and quickly tilt and move the skillet so the batter coats the entire bottom of the pan. (Move quickly, or the batter will set before the bottom of the skillet is coated, and the crêpes will be thicker than desired.)
3. Cook for about 45 seconds on one side, and then turn and cook for about 20 seconds on the other side. As you make the crêpes, stack them on a plate, first-browned side down, so that when they are filled and folded this nicer side will be visible. The crêpes are best made and filled just before eating.

From Jacques Pépin's Table ©2003 Bay Soma Publishing

The Buche De Noel Debacle - A Moment of Stupidity

 

Last year, Christmas Day Dinner was at Dr. Tex and Bacon’s house.  Because Bacon was putting in so much effort to make the ham and turkey, I wanted to bring something really special for dessert.  Celebrated pastry chef and chocolatier Francois Payard had shown off his famous Buche De Noel on Food Network.  "Buche de Noel" is the French term for that ubiquitous Yule Log cake we see at every bakery around this time of year.  

When Chef Payard revealed how it was made, two things struck me as poignant.  First, he did not roll the cake into a log.  Instead, he cut the sheet sponge cake into 3 rectangles.  In addition, he covered the entire concoction with a decadent chocolate ganache so that the Buche De Noel looked less like a traditional yule log and more like an enormous gourmet Hostess Ding Dong.  I also remembered that my mom filled her yule logs with chocolate mousse instead of the traditional pastry cream.  (Now that I think about it, she may have also spiked the mousse with Grand Marnier or DiSaronno). 

 

With all of these ideas in mind, I set out to put together a more do-able Payard Buche de Noel and pay homage to my mom at the same time.  I made a traditional Genoise sponge sheet cake and cut it into 3 rectangles.  Then, I wrapped each rectangle separately and froze them so that the cakes wouldn’t absorb any refrigerator flavors.  I made a chocolate mousse and stored it in airtight Tupperware in the refrigerator to let it set, foregoing any liqueur because the kids might not have liked it. 

 

On Christmas Day, after the presents and pancakes, I layered the cakes with the chocolate mousse.  Then, I covered the whole thing with homemade buttercream.  Now I was all ready for the ganache.  At this point, I was a bit nervous because I had forgotten to thaw the cakes out of the freezer, but we wouldn’t be eating the dessert for several more hours, so I crossed my fingers.

 

Before I started to make the ganache, I announced to my family that I was going to be very busy and that I couldn’t possibly be interrupted.  I knew that immediately after the ganache was finished, I had to confidently dump the molten chocolate all over the cake.  I had about 15 seconds to spread it and encourage it to spill over all of the corners and sides.  Fifteen seconds before everything hardened into a permanent statue. 

 

Right after I made the ganache, I held the bowl of chocolate over the cake and watched it tip.  I held my breath as the ooze went over one side readily.  The corners took some nudging with my spatula, but soon 3 were covered with smooth, velvety ganache.  I was about to grab the plate to get the luscious chocolate to spill over the other side of the cake, when Major Obvious burst into the kitchen with the following announcement, “There is red paint all over the couch!”

 

Furious, I set down the bowl.  I walked over to the couch to inspect the damage.  Little Man had accidentally waved his paint brush and red paint had landed on an arm and cushion of our white canvas couch.  True to male form, Major Obvious had attempted to get out the stain by grabbing some baby wipes and smearing the red spots into red streaks.  I sent Major Obvious to strip and bathe Little Man while I attempted to get out the red paint.  Who sends indelible paint to a 4 year old?  (Several friends).  Who lets a 4-year old conduct a painting project 1 hour before our departure to a dinner party?  (My optimistic husband).  Who lets her husband entertain the fantasy that he can effectively supervise any kind of craft project more complicated than coloring with washable Crayolas?  (I did).  Who buys a white canvas couch, anyway?  (Again, my optimistic husband).  These were the angry questions I kept asking myself as I scrubbed away. 

 

While I was creating pink and red foam on the couch with the bubbly soap and wiping that away with a towel, Bacon called several times to report a crisis on his end.  He had completely forgotten to pick up fresh green beans at the store and no other stores were open at this point.  Our menu could not possibly include his fresh green bean casserole at this stage.  I pulled it together long enough to answer the phone each time and tell him that the dinner would still be great.  I thought about telling him about my own troubles, but the wounds were too raw. I just told him that we were coming in 90 minutes and that we’d check both grocery stores on the way for green beans.  After about 15 minutes of persistent scrubbing, our couch returned back to a somewhat respectable state.  Believe it or not, the stain actually came out. 

 

I sighed and went back to the cake.  Like an industrial-strength MagicShell, the chocolate coated the log in a solid, hard casing.  There was no way I could possibly change anything at this point.  When Major Obvious came downstairs, I pointed to the cake and said, “There it is.  It’s ugly and terrible and there is nothing I can do about it.  I had, no joke, 15 seconds.  FIFTEEN SECONDS!  Seriously, you couldn’t give me FIFTEEN SECONDS?!  It was against my better judgment to let you ‘supervise’ a craft project!  Why on earth did I let you talk me into it?”  As if that ridiculous tirade wasn’t enough, I am ashamed to admit that I then ran into the kitchen and broke down into tears.  I do not rule out the possibility that PMS may have played a role in this drama.

 

My husband stared at me, dumbfounded.  His first instinct was to argue on his behalf, but one look at my angry eyes had him quickly playing the Sorry Spouse card.  I listened to his apology, then I turned away to wrap everything up.  He knew that I would eventually forgive him, but that I just needed some time to distance myself.  After about 20 minutes, I remembered that Christmas wasn’t really about perfect pastry.  We were all together and we all loved each other.  My kids had a father who wanted to be there for them while they painted.  I had children who were kind (and smart) enough to quietly excuse themselves during my blow up, sparing me the chore of explaining to them why I was acting like a 2-year old.  Major Obvious and I each apologized and hugged.  Then, we went to Tex and Bacon’s.

 

When Bacon saw the cake, he said, “It looks great.  What’s wrong with it?”  I shrugged, trying to concentrate on not conjuring up past emotions.  He grinned, rubbed my shoulder, and said, “I know, you wanted it to be perfect.”  I tried to give him the same reassurances about the vegetables.

 

Instead of fresh green beans, we made brussels sprouts sautéed with, naturally,  bacon.  They were fabulous.  And everyone at the party was gracious enough to ooh and aah for about 5 minutes before diving into the Buche de Noel.  My guy even made some sort of speech as I cut into the cake, indemnifying me of all responsibility concerning the cake’s imperfect appearance.  It was incredibly embarrassing and heartwarming at the same time.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the cake had thawed out perfectly and that the Buche de Noel, while not gorgeous, tasted divine.

Holiday revelers, as you are swearing at yourself (or loved ones) because the royal icing on your Christmas cookies is not as perfect as Martha’s, or your grandmother’s German pastry recipe is proving unwieldy, or your homemade mince meat is refusing to thicken and your guests are due to arrive any minute, remember that we are fortunate to have each other.  Our loved ones don’t really care what the Buche de Noel looks like.  It’s just nice to give it a try.