Last night I baked some salmon, then I raided the fridge/freezer for a way to serve it.
Here is the random list of things I had in the freezer...
Mushrooms
Artichokes
Onion
Italian Cheeze (romano)
Basil
Jelly
Honey
Pepper Sauce
Vinegar.
I layered some crepes in the bottom of the pan, then filled it with salmon and artichokes.
I sauteed mushrooms in olive oil, made a rue with flour, stirred in 1/2 and 1/2 until I had a veggie gravy, added some dry basil, then melted a bit of the hard italian cheeze for a sauce.
I poured this sauce over the first layer of crepes, salmon, and artichokes.
I made a second layer of crepes and topped it with Brie Cheese and the following sauce mixture:
2 parts Jelly (I had pomegranite, raspberry, and blueberry jelly on hand)
1 part honey
1/4 part chili sauce
1/4 part cider vinegar
Then I melted the brie under the broiler, and... Amazing improv dinner from random groceries I had on hand.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Crepe Tower
I started making crepes a couple of months ago. Jessica, a coworker, had mentioned a new creperie in town and after looking at their menu online... I was inspired to get going in my kitchen. I stuck to desserts on the first few rounds. (Thanks Jessica)
On Friday, the office finally took a trip over to Chez Elle, so I got to see all kinds of crepes, and their special crepe griddle, which made me a bit jealous, not gonna lie. I was out hunting for ideas.
On Saturday night, Sabrina and Natasha came over for dinner, and I decided to do a crepe tower... a layered crepe lasagna sort of dish.
I used Julia Child's Bechamel Cheese sauce recipe with eggs as a guideline for mine. (No, this is not another Julia Child blog, it just doesn't make sense to consult anyone else on french cooking)
So for the Bechamel,
I combined the Flour with Mexican Crema and blended it with my immersion blender to get out all the lumps (a whisk will do) I added the butter and continued to break up the lumps with the immersion blender until the mix was simmering. Then I added a whisked bowl of 1 egg and 2 egg yolks. Finally, I melted shredded mozzarella and added nutmeg, pepper and chili sauce. The Mexican Crema and Mozzarella cheese were my own substitutions for milk and swiss cheese.
To make the tower I started layering crepes with bechamel and a topping as if I was stacking 15 skinny pizzas together. There were:
(all layers had a thin spread of bechamel sauce)
2 carmelized onion layers
2 sauteed mushrooms and wilted spinach layers
2 sauteed artichoke layers
1 roasted asparagus layer
1 pesto layer
2 layers: 1/2 chicken and 1/2 salmon
l layer of Brie Cheese (to hold the salmon/chicken in place on top)
I baked the tower in the oven for about 20 minutes, topped with the leftover bechamel and some fresh tomatoes for garnish.
This is an extremely rich dish. But lovely.
For Dessert:
I made the italian canolli filling (ricotta chees mixed with chocolate shavings, almonds and agave syrup)
We had one canolli crepe and 1 Nutella filled crepe with candied pecans. The dish was topped with blackberries and shared by all 4 guests.
We spent about 40$ for 4 single crepes at Chez Elle on Friday. I fed 4 people for 40$. But I have leftover.
8 or 10 servings of artichokes (costo marinated bulk buy)
9 organic eggs (costco bulk buy)
Most of the rest of a Nutella Jar (costco bulk buy)
2/3 flat of bulk baby bella mushrooms (costco bulk buy)
5 or 6 servings of tomatoes (costco bulk buy)
1/3 bunch of asparagus
Nealy 1 pound of Brie Cheese
9 Organic Free Range Chicken Breasts
Plus nearly 1/2 of the tower. We had some for lunch and will have more with dinner tonight. I refreshed the leftovers by drizzling Meican Crema and pesto over the top.
On Friday, the office finally took a trip over to Chez Elle, so I got to see all kinds of crepes, and their special crepe griddle, which made me a bit jealous, not gonna lie. I was out hunting for ideas.
On Saturday night, Sabrina and Natasha came over for dinner, and I decided to do a crepe tower... a layered crepe lasagna sort of dish.
I used Julia Child's Bechamel Cheese sauce recipe with eggs as a guideline for mine. (No, this is not another Julia Child blog, it just doesn't make sense to consult anyone else on french cooking)
So for the Bechamel,
I combined the Flour with Mexican Crema and blended it with my immersion blender to get out all the lumps (a whisk will do) I added the butter and continued to break up the lumps with the immersion blender until the mix was simmering. Then I added a whisked bowl of 1 egg and 2 egg yolks. Finally, I melted shredded mozzarella and added nutmeg, pepper and chili sauce. The Mexican Crema and Mozzarella cheese were my own substitutions for milk and swiss cheese.
To make the tower I started layering crepes with bechamel and a topping as if I was stacking 15 skinny pizzas together. There were:
(all layers had a thin spread of bechamel sauce)
2 carmelized onion layers
2 sauteed mushrooms and wilted spinach layers
2 sauteed artichoke layers
1 roasted asparagus layer
1 pesto layer
2 layers: 1/2 chicken and 1/2 salmon
l layer of Brie Cheese (to hold the salmon/chicken in place on top)
I baked the tower in the oven for about 20 minutes, topped with the leftover bechamel and some fresh tomatoes for garnish.
This is an extremely rich dish. But lovely.
For Dessert:
I made the italian canolli filling (ricotta chees mixed with chocolate shavings, almonds and agave syrup)
We had one canolli crepe and 1 Nutella filled crepe with candied pecans. The dish was topped with blackberries and shared by all 4 guests.
We spent about 40$ for 4 single crepes at Chez Elle on Friday. I fed 4 people for 40$. But I have leftover.
8 or 10 servings of artichokes (costo marinated bulk buy)
9 organic eggs (costco bulk buy)
Most of the rest of a Nutella Jar (costco bulk buy)
2/3 flat of bulk baby bella mushrooms (costco bulk buy)
5 or 6 servings of tomatoes (costco bulk buy)
1/3 bunch of asparagus
Nealy 1 pound of Brie Cheese
9 Organic Free Range Chicken Breasts
Plus nearly 1/2 of the tower. We had some for lunch and will have more with dinner tonight. I refreshed the leftovers by drizzling Meican Crema and pesto over the top.
Swiss Chard
Cheap and easy to grow in your spring garden!
Mollie Katzen's recipe from her book "Vegetable's I Can't Live Without" is amazing, I clearly remember the afternoon over 2 years ago when I heard her describe this recipe on NPR. Russell and I were driving to the farmers market. I bought Chard that day, and have made this recipe over and over again since that time. When ingredients vary, I sometimes add blue cheese, feta cheese, or goat cheese. And walnuts and candied pecans made a nice variation to the pine nuts.
I met a foodie out last night while watching a friends band. "Hi Angela"
I am posting this blog for her... and the link to the original NPR story which I often look up and forward or print for people.
Mollie's Rainbow Chard Decorated with itself and other recipes. I have used and adapted this the Brussels Sprouts recipe also.
Mollie Katzen's recipe from her book "Vegetable's I Can't Live Without" is amazing, I clearly remember the afternoon over 2 years ago when I heard her describe this recipe on NPR. Russell and I were driving to the farmers market. I bought Chard that day, and have made this recipe over and over again since that time. When ingredients vary, I sometimes add blue cheese, feta cheese, or goat cheese. And walnuts and candied pecans made a nice variation to the pine nuts.
I met a foodie out last night while watching a friends band. "Hi Angela"
I am posting this blog for her... and the link to the original NPR story which I often look up and forward or print for people.
Mollie's Rainbow Chard Decorated with itself and other recipes. I have used and adapted this the Brussels Sprouts recipe also.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Crepes
I am working on a project with the KIPP School of Kansas City to put on a mini international fest for the 7th grade. I mixed up a batch of these this morning. Using the instructions from The Way to Cook by Julia Child. I have also used Julia and Jaques: Cooking at Home. This is a particularly interesting take because Julia and Jaques have different tecniques for resting and cooking the batter. I checked both of these out at the KC Public Library, where you can put a book on hold and have it ready for you at any location, no matter where it is catalogued.
See Julie Child's Recipe. Fill it with Nutella. Amazing!
See Julie Child's Recipe. Fill it with Nutella. Amazing!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Cheap and Easy Pork Chops
Costco has great prices for meat. Yesterday, I bought 9 thick cut pork chops for about $14.50. I was cooking a birthday dinner for our cousin Brandon, but we needed to be frugal. I was able to serve a meal that would have totaled over $150.00 at the Mango Room here in Kansas City where I used to work. At $1.50 per chop, $0.50 per serving of pork chop sauce, $2.50 per salad, $.75 per serving of garlic/parm mashed potatoes, $0.50 per serving of brussell sprouts, and $.75 per chocolate/peanut butter or chocolate/blueberry crepes. I was able to feed 4 people this fine meal for a total of $26.00
Pork Chop Recipe:
Tiny Pinch of Salt
4 Thick Cut Chops
1 medium onion
1 orange wedged and chunked
Cut onion in half, dice one half in large chunks, dice the other 1/2 in small pieces.
Rub Chops with a tiny bit of coarse ground salt (kosher, sea salt)
Layer Crocpot with large onions, place chops in croc, turn on high until chops are seared a bit, flip chops and top with small diced onions and orange chunks, cover and let cook until other side is seared.
Once both sides of the chop are seared, poor in sauce mix.
Sauce Mix:
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp Chili Paste (Not Sri-Racha but Sambal Oelek)
2 Tbsp Honey
1 orange, juiced
2 cloves pressed garlic
Poor sauce over chops and let cook on high at least 2 hours.
When chops are cooked, turn them down to low, dip out 1/2 the liquid and reduce it by 75%. As the chops are cooling, they will get more tender.
Serve chops with a spoon of the sauce over top.
Pork Chop Recipe:
Tiny Pinch of Salt
4 Thick Cut Chops
1 medium onion
1 orange wedged and chunked
Cut onion in half, dice one half in large chunks, dice the other 1/2 in small pieces.
Rub Chops with a tiny bit of coarse ground salt (kosher, sea salt)
Layer Crocpot with large onions, place chops in croc, turn on high until chops are seared a bit, flip chops and top with small diced onions and orange chunks, cover and let cook until other side is seared.
Once both sides of the chop are seared, poor in sauce mix.
Sauce Mix:
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp Chili Paste (Not Sri-Racha but Sambal Oelek)
2 Tbsp Honey
1 orange, juiced
2 cloves pressed garlic
Poor sauce over chops and let cook on high at least 2 hours.
When chops are cooked, turn them down to low, dip out 1/2 the liquid and reduce it by 75%. As the chops are cooling, they will get more tender.
Serve chops with a spoon of the sauce over top.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Oh! Caserole
My Freezer: I have learned to use my freezer, just in the last couple of years, before that, I pretty much frowned on anything frozen except ice, ice-cream, and cheap frozen pizza (Totino's cheap). So anyway, I have learned to utilize my electricity sucker very well.
Whenever I have bread or biscuit leftovers, I freeze them. One of my favorite casserole toppings is to mix about 4 parts cheese to 2 parts bread/biscuit 1 part mayo... yes this might sound strange. But... think on this...
Mayo is just oil, egg, and flavors, so it has tremendous binding power.
So, try it! Top a caserole with some cheesy, bread and mayo brown bubble goodness.
I made fresh condensed mushroom soup pretty often. So I had this pre-prepped mix of my soup, but you can use canned of course. I made a pretty traditional chicken, broccoli, rice, and mushroom soup caserole. I topped it with cheesy, bread and mayo goodness, and baked it at about 375 F till it had brown bubbles on top.
Whenever I have bread or biscuit leftovers, I freeze them. One of my favorite casserole toppings is to mix about 4 parts cheese to 2 parts bread/biscuit 1 part mayo... yes this might sound strange. But... think on this...
Mayo is just oil, egg, and flavors, so it has tremendous binding power.
So, try it! Top a caserole with some cheesy, bread and mayo brown bubble goodness.
I made fresh condensed mushroom soup pretty often. So I had this pre-prepped mix of my soup, but you can use canned of course. I made a pretty traditional chicken, broccoli, rice, and mushroom soup caserole. I topped it with cheesy, bread and mayo goodness, and baked it at about 375 F till it had brown bubbles on top.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Stocking up the Bread
About once each month, I spend my weekend baking bread. This time, I made tortillas, pizza crusts, and multi-grain bread.
Improvisation:
I was running out of flour. So... I used my handy dandy food processor to grind up some oats, millet, and hazlenuts.
I will buy random grains and nuts in bulk from the Whole Foods or the Arab Market, so this is what I had stocked up. The problem with this mixture is that it is high in grain goodness, but low in gluten protein.
Gluten (protein) gives bread elasticity (like a balloon can expand to hold air, so can the loaf if it has enough elasticity) When working with large grains or grains with low gluten content, you need to make up for the shortage somehow. Eggs is one way, I also keep high gluten flour on hand, so that is what I used.
I mixed...
5 cups (approx) of some multigrain mix from my previous loaves (I have no idea what all was in it, I think some spelt, wheat, and white flour)
2 -3 cups oat flour with lots of gluten mixed in (probably 1/4 cup doesn't matter though, all gluten flour comes with its own instructions for mixing b/c it is made with different proportions of protein)
1 cup of millet
1/2 cup ground hazlenut meal
1 cup white flour during kneeding
I used my standard ratio of yeast, water, salt, sugar, and oil. (from the "Video Bread" Guy)
The bread is good, however, it is VERY dense. I could have used twice as much gluten and still probably would have had a pretty dense loaf, just comes with the territory with those whole grains and nuts.
Improvisation:
I was running out of flour. So... I used my handy dandy food processor to grind up some oats, millet, and hazlenuts.
I will buy random grains and nuts in bulk from the Whole Foods or the Arab Market, so this is what I had stocked up. The problem with this mixture is that it is high in grain goodness, but low in gluten protein.
Gluten (protein) gives bread elasticity (like a balloon can expand to hold air, so can the loaf if it has enough elasticity) When working with large grains or grains with low gluten content, you need to make up for the shortage somehow. Eggs is one way, I also keep high gluten flour on hand, so that is what I used.
I mixed...
5 cups (approx) of some multigrain mix from my previous loaves (I have no idea what all was in it, I think some spelt, wheat, and white flour)
2 -3 cups oat flour with lots of gluten mixed in (probably 1/4 cup doesn't matter though, all gluten flour comes with its own instructions for mixing b/c it is made with different proportions of protein)
1 cup of millet
1/2 cup ground hazlenut meal
1 cup white flour during kneeding
I used my standard ratio of yeast, water, salt, sugar, and oil. (from the "Video Bread" Guy)
The bread is good, however, it is VERY dense. I could have used twice as much gluten and still probably would have had a pretty dense loaf, just comes with the territory with those whole grains and nuts.
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