Penney’s Palate

My applesauce consumption has gone up considerably from 0 a day to 1 a day for the past month or so. I like eating a little something sweet after I eat lunch at work… I quit yogurt cold turkey because I got tired of it, and promptly made the switch to applesauce. One day I am not going to want applesauce, but before that day comes, I thought that I would like to try to make my own. It can’t be that hard right? It has always seemed like a mystery to me, so now we can all unravel the mystery together.

I picked 3 different recipes that I felt represented 3 different ways to make applesauce. Feel free not to use them. I will post my applesauce adventure on March 23rd. To my surprise, all of these recipes seem very simple (I was thinking that applesauce took hours and hours of hovering over a stove). I’m guessing that apple selection is critical to good applesauce.

Microwave Method
Few ingredients with a little sugar for a sweetener
Exotic

As I was browsing the “Quick and Easy” section of Epicurious I came across this recipe. I thought to my self: “What, no way. This sounds like what I had at Fez (Le Club Fez, a local French/Moroccan restaurant). But this looks way too easy. Oh okay, I’ll try it, but I’m sure it is going to turn out bland and whatever else. There is no way that it is THIS easy to make this dish.” I think that it was in the quick and easy section because even though it has to cook for a few hours, there is only about 15 minutes of preparation before hand. I adjusted it based on the fact that the store only had Lamb legs instead of Lamb shoulder. And I didn’t have any ras-el-hanout, so I found this recipe. I have a “smidgen” measuring spoon, which is slightly smaller than 1/8 tsp, so I used that as my base and added the appropriate proportions of each ingredient. I also left out each ingredient that was already included in the lamb recipe, as I didn’t want to double up on any of the spices.

The result was good. So so good.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons ras-el-hanout
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
3 cups water
2 lb boneless lamb leg, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cups raisins
1 1/4 cups whole blanched almonds
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation
Whisk together ras-el-hanout, salt, pepper, ginger, saffron, and 1 cup water in a 5-quart heavy pot. Stir in lamb, remaining 2 cups water, onion, garlic, cinnamon sticks, and butter and simmer, covered, until lamb is just tender, 1 1/2 hours.

Stir in raisins, almonds, honey, and ground cinnamon and simmer, covered, about 30 minutes more. Uncover pot and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until stew is slightly thickened, about 15 minutes more.

Serve over couscous

Girl Scout season is here! I told myself that I would try my best not to buy any cookies. Because they’re expensive and I eat a lot of them. I decided to try and make my favorite cookie instead. They turned out surprisingly good (both in looks and taste). Even though they took about 4 hours to make, from start to finish, I enjoyed making them. I didn’t have much going on Saturday afternoon, so it was a fun way to spend the day. Eating them is fun too. If I made these again, I would improve on the caramel spreading process for sure. This was the hardest part, and the cause of 8 broken cookies. It took me so long to spread the caramel/cocunut topping on, so it kept getting hard, and I would have to heat it up in the microwave to soften it up again. By the time I got to the last handful of cookies, the caramel didn’t even want to soften up even when heated. So that was that. Those cookies aren’t as caramely and are a bit on the chewy side, but still extremely edible and delicious.

Samoas

Ingredients
The cookie:
1 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
up to 2 tbsp milk

The caramel mixture:
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened)
12-oz chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk

The chocolate:
8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate

Preparation
The cookie:
Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.

Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife (I used an apple corer), to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

The topping:
Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a glass bowl with milk and salt. Place bowl on a pot of boiling water and stir caramel mixture until melted. When smooth, remove from heat and fold in toasted coconut with a spatula. Using the spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.

The chocolate:
While topping sets up, melt chocolate in another glass bowl over a pot of boiling water. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.
Let chocolate set completely before trying to eat (this takes a few hours, unfortunately). Fortunately for Tommy and I, we left for dinner just after I finished making these, so we didn’t have to be tortured by watching the chocolate get solidified. I had them as a second dessert when we got home from dinner.

The process improvement that I would make next time is with how the caramel topping is applied to the cookie. I would leave the caramel in the glass bowl over some simmering water (so that the caramel stays soft the entire time). I would then dip the cookie in the caramel, then dip it in the coconut. I think that this would save a lot of time too. The only thing you would have to be careful about is that the caramel is very hot when it is at this stage, so you might get a few burned fingertips if you’re not careful about dipping the cookies.

I bought a box of the REAL girl scout cookies on my way home from the store today (this is the ONLY box I am going to buy this year). I was shocked that I had to pay $3.50 for only 15 cookies! My cookies are bigger but the caramel is a bit harder than the REAL cookies. That’s probably because there are a bazillion preservatives in the REAL cookie’s caramel. Oh yeah, and I got about 45 cookies out of the deal, AND they’re bigger. So take that girl scouts!

For the Roasted Chicken Challenge, Tommy and I started off with a 2.91 pound chicken from somewhere in Piedmont, NC. We decided to do the dry brine as Melanie’s recipe stated. We kept it in the refrigerator for about 7 hours before taking it out. Like Brian’s, it had turned a pinkish color. It looked kind of gross in my opinion, but I forged ahead. We oiled, sugared and peppered the outsides, and added some aromatics to the insides. The aromatics consisted of 1 shallot, 1/4 of a Gala Apple, 1 cinnamon stick, twig of rosemary and a twig of sage. It was baked breast side down for 25 minutes, then breast side up for about 20 minutes (we used our thermometer inserted in the thigh to tell us when the bird was done, which was 175 degrees later).

The end result was a very moist and flavorful chicken. Neither Tommy nor I are big fans of eating small birds from the bone, it just seems like so much effort for so little meat. But it was delicious, and WORLDS better than the rotisserie chickens you can buy from supermarket. I think that the type of chicken that we bought (free range chicken) contributed to its goodness and tastiness. Tommy also made a gravy with the drippings. MMMMMM tasty gravy it was. With only 2.91 pounds of chicken, there wasn’t much left, only about a cup of shredded chicken. We made Paninis with it a week later, which was the wrong choice. It would have been much better used in some chicken salad maybe.

One thing happened with the chicken that seemed a little odd. Tommy and I weren’t really sure of the exact location on the thigh to put the thermometer. We didn’t have much luck with thermometer placement when cooking our two Thanksgiving turkeys, so we weren’t sure how much faith to put in this thermometer placement. We were convinced that our chicken was done when it took about 20 minutes (with breast side up) to reach the 175 degrees. We were even happier when we began carving the chicken and saw that it seemed to be done. However, after turning the chicken around to start on the other side, it was revealed that the thigh piece was not done on the second side. Everything else seemed to be done. So we continued with the carving and threw in the un-finished thigh and remaining carcas back in the oven for 10 minutes, and began eating.

I would roast a chicken again. It was pretty easy but a little time consuming since you have to plan out when to brine it and when to be available when it is done brining. Next time I would be interested in roasting it in a pan with lots of vegetables like Will and Maggie suggested. I like roasted vegetables, and just thinking of the flavor that the vegetables will absorb makes me hungry even when I am full.

I was a little sick this week, so Wednesday I stayed home from work and rested up a bit. Since I was sick, of course I wanted soup. I don’t care for canned soup, and Tommy wasn’t available to make soup for me, so I picked an easy soup recipe that didn’t require much preparation. I browsed through my classic Italian cookbook and found a recipe for Lentil Soup. Having had lentils for the first time only last month and loving them, I decided that this soup was definitely the one. It is somewhere between a soup and an entrée though, because it has a lot of pasta in it. In the end, the pasta absorbs all of the liquid, making it not very soupy at all. But still very tasty, and a good hearty soup for someone feeling a bit under the weather. You can also adjust the liquid portion as well. The recipe called for 9 cups of chicken stock, but I felt that would be a little too strong for my tastes, so I used only 7 cups of stock and 2 cups of water. The lentils are very flavorful, so I think that you could even reduce the amount of chicken stock used even more. It depends on what your tastes are I suppose. I ate this for lunch, and then when Tommy came home, we made Paninis and had a bowl of the lentil soup with our Paninis. The original recipe calls for brown lentils, but I already had French green lentils, so that is what I used. I am anxious to use other lentils for cooking with to see how much of a difference each colored lentil is.

Lentil Soup

Ingredients
1 cup dried lentils (brown or green)
6 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 celery stalks
2 small carrots
7 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1 sage leaf, chopped (or 1/8 tsp dried sage)
1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1/4 tsp dried thyme)
Salt and Pepper
2 1/2 cups small pasta (I used this mini-bow tie pasta, Orzo would work as well. Ditalini or Pastina would work best if you can find it where you live)

Preparation
Put lentils in a bowl and cover with cold water, soak for 2 hours. After lentils are done soaking, heat the oil in large pot. Add the onion and cook until it softens. Add the celery and carrots and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the lentils, chicken stock, water, and herbs. Bring the soup to a boil, then cook over moderate heat (a low boil) for 1 hour. Add salt and pepper if needed. Stir in the pasta and cook until the pasta is done (this is where most of the liquid in the soup will begin to disappear. Eat.

Our refrigerator was getting low on lunch-time leftovers, so last night I made a pan of baked ziti. Instead of my regular recipe, I chose to change it up a bit. I remember reading over a lasagna-style baked ziti in one of my recent Food & Wine magazines, so after a quick search, I had found what I had stored away in my distant memory. Of course, I made some modifications to the recipe based on what Tommy and I like in a baked ziti dish. It turned out to be a nice creamy alternative to the strictly tomato-based ziti that I have made in the past. The creaminess comes from a bechamel (which was pretty plain, I should add more cheese next time, and maybe some salt?).

Lasagna-Style Baked Ziti

Ingredients
3/4 lb ziti
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small to medium yellow onion, diced
1 lb hot Italian Sausage
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp. dried marjoram
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
Salt and Pepper
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup AP flour
2 cups whole milk
1 egg yolk
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and start a large pot of water on the stove (for the pasta). In a large skillet heat the olive oil, then add the onion and cook over medium heat until the onions are soft (about 4 minutes). Add the sausage and cook for 10 minutes or until beginning to brown (break up the clumps as it cooks). Remove from the heat and add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, marjoram, parsley, salt and pepper.

Once the sausage is added to the skillet, add the pasta to the boiling water (use cooking time on box), and start the bechamel: In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Whisk in the milk (it helps if the milk has been warmed instead of being cold) and cook over medium-high heat until the sauce is very thick and boiling, whisking constantly (about 5-7 minutes). Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolk and cheese (and salt if needed). Stir all but 3/4 cup of the bechamel into the sausage/tomato mixture. Stir in the pasta to this mixture.

Pour the mixture (pasta, bechamel, sausage/tomato mixture) into an appropriately sized casserole dish (I used an 8.5 X 11 inch dish). Then spread the remaining bechamel over the top. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, preheat the broiler and broil the pasta for about 2 minutes, until the top has browned and is bubbly. Let rest 5-10 minutes before serving.

Today I made Amy’s Pulled Pork. Like all crock pot meals, it was easy. Pork, onion, garlic, bbq sauce, turn crock pot on, walk away. I took Amy’s recommendation to use a bbq sauce that I liked. That was a slight problem because I don’t really know what kind of bbq sauce I like. I decided just to browse Harris Teeter’s bbq sauce section and was very excited to find a Peppery Vinegar Eastern Carolina BBQ Sauce. I was very excited. Very, very excited.

It turned out pretty good. It wasn’t quite what you could get at Old Time, or Smithfields, but under the current circumstances of living in SC where they only make mustard-based bbq, it was a pretty good substitute. We ate it with corn on the cob and some corn bread. I’m not good at making cornbread, so I can’t write anything good about it. At least it was edible. I am looking forward to having the leftover bbq on a hamburger bun with some coleslaw tomorrow for lunch. Thanks Amy!

Today I made Amy’s Pulled Pork. Like all crock pot meals, it was easy. Pork, onion, garlic, bbq sauce, turn crock pot on, walk away. I took Amy’s recommendation to use a bbq sauce that I liked. That was a slight problem because I don’t really know what kind of bbq sauce I like. I decided just to browse Harris Teeter’s bbq sauce section and was very excited to find a Peppery Vinegar Eastern Carolina BBQ Sauce. I was very excited. Very, very excited.

It turned out pretty good. It wasn’t quite what you could get at Old Time, or Smithfields, but under the current circumstances of living in SC where they only make mustard-based bbq, it was a pretty good substitute. We ate it with corn on the cob and some corn bread. I’m not good at making cornbread, so I can’t write anything good about it. At least it was edible. I am looking forward to having the leftover bbq on a hamburger bun with some coleslaw tomorrow for lunch. Thanks Amy!

This was the first time that I have prepared turnips at home. I would describe the texture and taste as a cross between a beet and a carrot, favoring the beet a little more than the carrot. I’ve never had them any other way, so I can’t say whether this preparation rocks compared to others. Tommy and I thought it was very tasty though. I will definitely be getting turnips again within the next few months. I’m not sure if turnips are a seasonal vegetable or not, but our grocery stores don’t have them all of the time. I was going to make these back in November but I couldn’t find the turnips anywhere.

Maple Glazed Turnips

Ingredients
1 lb purple-top turnips
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper as needed
Water as needed
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Preparation
Peel the turnips and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Heat half of the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pepper and turnips. Add enough water to fill about 1/4″ of the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. cover the pan and let the turnips steam for 8 minutes. After the 8 minutes, take the cover off and continue to cook until the water has cooked away and the syrup has glazed the turnips (this should take 3-5 minutes). Add the rest of the butter to the pan with the parsley and lemon juice. Shake around until the butter has melted and the turnips have all been coated. Serve.

I’m curious: How do you go about deciding what to eat for dinner?

Tommy and I have been cooking at home more and more. Sometimes there is no dinner plan until one of us comes home. Other times, I have planned out what to make for dinner every night of the week, and I even go to the grocery store on Saturday or Sunday to pick up the ingredients for at least the first few days of the week (when buying meat, I prefer to buy it the day of, or at most, one day prior to eating).

I used to use only foodtv.com and my Food & Wine magazines for recipe ideas. I don’t like the search feature of foodtv.com, but if you have an idea of what you want, it works pretty well. Tommy and I are always able to find tasty recipes (and some not so tasty) on the website. Lately I feel as if the site has failed us. I haven’t been able to find many recipes that I am interested in making. So last weekend I stumbled across Epicurious. I have known about epicurious for a very long time, but have never made an effort to really poke around the website. I like the site a lot. The three things that I like most about it are: 1. It has recipes that are available from Gourmet and Bon Apetit Magazines, providing a nice alternative to the Food & Wine recipes that I have available. 2. Users can post their own recipes… most of which seam reasonable and easy to sort through. 3. You can review or read reviews of all recipes that are posted. This is the one thing that foodtv.com does not have. I like browsing through the reviews of a recipe to see if there are other things I can add or things I should leave out of the recipe. Are there any other good places to go to look for recipe ideas?