Archive | Recipes RSS feed for this section

Friday Night Comfort Food: Chicken Pot Pie

28 May

In the infamous words of the lovely Chef Carla Hall, “I’ve been thinking about chicken pot pie all week!”

I can’t tell you the last time I had chicken pot pie, and no, I’ve never made one before yesterday. But soon after Chef Hall whipped up a might tasty looking one on Top Chef, I saw Alton Brown make his version on an episode of Good Eats. Ever since, it’s been calling to me like a siren. Juicy chicken and savory vegetables in a creamy, rich gravy tucked away beneath a buttery crispy crust. Yes, please.

There are things about traditional pot pie of which I’m not a big fan. As much as I love chicken and potatoes together, I think there’s enough starch in the crust and gravy to suffice. Secondly, I cannot stand cooked peas. Maybe lightly steamed and shocked in ice water, but otherwise, no thank you ma’am. What I needed was a different green vegetable for both color and deliciousness, some earthiness, and something special to kick up that gravy. No sad, gray gravy here.

Let’s begin! Here’s what you’ll need

Filling

  • 1.25 lb. chicken breast, diced
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 zucchini, diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 5-6 cremini mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 medium white onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, diced
  • 3 tbsp. dry sherry
  • 3 tbsp. flour
  • 2 tbsp. butter, unsalted
  • 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 sprig parsley, chopped
  • Red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper to taste
  • Olive oil
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Crust

  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 tbsp. sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 4 oz. unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 2-3 tbsp. ice water
  • Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp. water)

First, prep the crust. I used a pretty basic pate brisee for this. Just combine the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, and then slowly add in the butter and process using short pulses. The resulting texture should be sandy.

Add 2 tbsp. of ice water and process just until the dough will hold together when pinched between your fingers. Add more water only if necessary and then roll the dough into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour. If you do this in advance, take the dough out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before rolling it out.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss the diced chicken with a little bit of olive oil and the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and then brown the pieces in a large pan.

In a separate pan, warm the milk and chicken stock together over low heat.

Add a small amount of oil to the same pan and sautee the onions, garlic, zucchini, carrots, and mushrooms just until they release their juices. Add the sherry and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Taste and season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Add the butter, allow it to melt and then mix in the 3 tbsp. of flour. Slowly whisk in the milk/chicken stock mixture and then add the parsley, thyme, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the mixture reduces and thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in the chicken.

Pour the filling into a shallow baking dish. This 2 quart oval casserole dish was just the right size. A deep dish pie pan or 8 x 8 in. baking dish would probably work as well.

Roll out the pie dough to the shape of your cooking vessel, only slightly larger so that there is some overhang. Cover the filling and crimp the crust along the edges of the baking dish to secure. Cut some vents in the crust to let out steam, and then brush it with the egg wash.

Bake the pot pie for 30-35 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown

Allow it to cool for 10-15 minutes before digging in. Eat and be comforted.

Hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Ciao for now,

Neen

DIY Charcuterie the Third: Peperone (Pepperoni)

24 Apr

Project pancetta has come to its savory and delicious conclusion. Here’s a final shot:

I think a trip to Eastern Market for some nice, plump sea scallops is in order. Wrap them up in pancetta, roast quickly, and serve with a spicy plum or peach chutney…yum.

Ah, but with room in the drying closet comes room for a new project. With all of this bacon-y goodness and soon to be finished soppressata, I thought something a little bit leaner might be in order. I once bought peperone from a small Italian market that made it on-site and was pleasantly suprised by two things: It was much less fatty than the average slice you might see on pizza and also much more heavily spiced.

Pepperoni is the Americanized spelling of peperoni, the plural of the Italian word peperone which means “pepper.” Makes sense then, that this would be a peppery sausage that bites back a little bit when you taste it. So let’s go for it:

Meat:

  • 5 lbs. of lean beef, cut into small cubes. A round or chuck roast with the sinew and fat trimmed away is perfect.

Cure:

  • 3 tbsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. DQ curing salt #2 / Insta-cure #2 (www.butcher-packer.com)
  • 1/4 cup Bactoferm F-RM-52
  • 1/4 cup distilled water
  • 3 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
  • 1 tsp. ground fennel
  • 4 tbsp. dextrose
  • 3/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 2 tbsp. paprika
  • 2 tbsp. dry red wine
  • 10 ft. sausage casings

Soak the sausage casings in warm water for at least a half hour.

Combine the meat with the kosher salt and DQ curing salt #2 and grind through a small die into the bowl of a stand mixer.

Dissolve the Bactoferm starter in the distilled water and add it, along with the rest of the ingredients, to the ground meat. Mix thoroughly to combine everything. At this point, I let the meat rest for a few hours in the refrigerator. Prior to stuffing, I also fried a small patty of the ground meat to check the seasoning.

Grease a sausage stuffer (I use the attachment for the Kitchenaid) with a small amount of shortening. Find the opening in the soaked casing and run cool water down the length of the casing several times to remove any kinks, and then shimmy it onto the stuffer. Tie a knot at the end. Have a sterilized pin at the ready to remove any air pockets that form as you form the peperone. Stuff the seasoned meat into the casing using consistent speed and gentle, even pressure.

Once you have completed stuffing a rope of peperone, twist it into 10 in. links alternating directions, and then tie each link off with butchers twine. Prick the peperone all over to remove any remaining air pockets and facilitate drying. Weigh them and take note of the weight.

Hang the links at room temperature for 12 hours and then move to a cool, dark, humid place to dry completely. Ideal conditions are about 60 degrees and 60-70% humidity. The peperone is ready when it feels firm all the way through and has lost 1/3rd of its weight. Here it is hanging out in the drying closet on the left, with the soppressata (which is almost ready!!) on the right.

Depending on the thickness and size of the links, drying can take anywhere from one to three weeks. Then, well…mangia!

Update: Here’s what the finished peperone looked like. Had a nice little kick to it, but nothing too palate-numbing. Really worth the wait!

 

Ciao for now,

Neen

More DIY Charcuterie: Soppressata

19 Apr

As hard as it may be to believe, I don’t always feel like cooking. Like any other working person, there are days that I come home from the office entirely wiped out. There are also the rare occasions when Joe gets a fast-food craving, and unless it’s for burgers at Five Guys I usually pass. Those evenings, I turn to simple pleasures for dinner. Maybe an avocado, sliced thin with a squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkle of salt alongside thinly rolled slices of smoked turkey. If I have caramelized onions in the fridge, I might cut up some mild cheese (like queso blanco) and eat those together with a little bit of French bread.

But my favorite simple meals are things like little slices of soppressata and sharp provolone with some kind of raw or pickled vegetables on the side. That, some warm bread, and a glass of sparkling water and I’m a pretty happy camper.

Well, I did feel like cooking this weekend, and honestly, I can’t really think of why I haven’t been compelled before now to make my own soppressata. I’ve made fresh sausage lots of times. The only difference here is that this is left to dry for a few weeks.

Okay, so there are a few more differences than that, but only in the sense that you need to mix a spoonful of special salt and a starter into your ground meat. Most recipes you’ll find online don’t include them, but the authors of Charcuterie recommend them to guard against the growth of mold and prevent botulism. I’ve included a source for those ingredients and have found their shipping and service to be excellent.

Here’s what you’ll need meat-wise:

  • 4 lb. pork shoulder, cut into small cubes
  • 1 lb. pork fat, diced (Back fat is recommended, but I used a little bit of belly fat and the fat cap from my pork shoulder.)

For the cure:

  • ¼ cup distilled water
  • 20 grams Bactoferm-f-rm-52 starter (www.butcher-packer.com)
  • 3 tbsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. DQ curing salt #2, also called Insta Cure #2 (www.butcher-packer.com)
  • ½ cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 3 tbsp. dextrose (www.amazon.com Ooh, one-day shipping!) You can also use plain sugar, but dextrose is a better food for your starter.
  • 1 tsp. ground white pepper
  • 1.5 tsp. minced garlic
  • 1 tsp. hot red pepper flakes (can be doubled if you like hot sausage)
  • ¼ cup Pinot Bianco or other dry white wine
  • 10 ft. sausage casing

Get both the fat and the meat very cold. In fact, you can even freeze the fat. This will keep it from smearing and give you those wonderful little bites of fat you see in soppressata.

Grind the fat and meat coarsely and then refrigerate.

Soak the casings in water that starts at 110 degrees F. while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Dissolve the Bactoferm starter in the distilled water. In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the dry ingredients for the cure and mix well.

Add the cure, wine, and starter to the meat and mix on your mixer’s lowest speed (or by hand) for a minute or two until well combined. Return the mixture to the fridge while you prepare the sausage stuffer.

Grease a sausage stuffer (I use the attachment for the Kitchenaid) with a small amount of shortening. Find the opening in the soaked casing and run cool water down the length of the casing several times to remove any kinks, and then shimmy it onto the stuffer. Tie a knot at the end.

Slowing stuff the meat mixture into the sausage casing. Have a sterilized pin handy to prick out any air pockets that form. Keep one hand on the extruded sausage and stuff as evenly as possible. (It is difficult to take pictures while doing this, but you can see more of the process in my earlier post on boerewors.) Once you have completed a rope of sausage, twist it into links alternating direction each time, or tie them off with small pieces of butchers twine. Prick the links all over with the sterilized pin to facilitate drying and remove any remaining air pockets. Weigh the sausage and take note of the pre-dried weight.

Hang the sausages to dry at room temperature for 12 hours. This will help to incubate the beneficial bacteria created by the starter. After 12 hours, move the links to a cool, humid, dark place to dry until they have lost 1/3rd of the original weight. On average, this takes 2-3 weeks.

This soppressata began drying on Saturday afternoon and was 74 oz., so it will be finished when it reaches 49 oz. See you then!

Update! Here’s a picture of the finished soppressata. It was amazing, but gone so quickly.

Ciao for now,

Neen

P.S. My basement smells delicious.

DIY Charcuterie: Pancetta

18 Apr

Picture this (if you want a laugh): Pouring rain, about 45 degrees, and I’d just come out of Eastern Market. The walk back to my office is about 6 city blocks and I had 5 lbs. of salt, a 5 lb. pork belly, a 1.25 lb. moulard duck breast, some spices, a few pieces of fruit, and a hunk of provolone cheese in my cooler bag. Oh, and I had a haddock sandwich from the lunch counter. Even if I had an umbrella, there was no free hand with which to carry it.

“You. Are. Brilliant.” I told myself. Admittedly, even if I’d had the forethought to consider how heavy my supplies would be I doubt it would have had much effect on the process. I was far too excited about my new book (Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing, by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn) to give much thought to my soon-to-be sore shoulders. Frankly, I was more concerned about locating a suitable place somewhere in the house that was cool, dark, and humid enough to hang cured meat.

I imagine that few people go home on Friday night with the thought, “Yes, I can’t wait to rub down a pork belly!” But that was my plan last week. I’d wanted to buy Charcuterie for a long time, but only recently convinced myself that the recipes in it were accessible enough to be done by a home cook without much special equipment.

So…who wants Pancetta?

Pancetta is cured, but not smoked Italian bacon. I chose this recipe to start with mostly for its simplicity. Also because you can buy an entire 5 lb. pork belly for roughly the same price as 1 lb. of finished pancetta. Seriously.

Here’s what you need:

  • One 5 lb. pork belly, skin removed. (A butcher will do this for you, but if you do it at home you can save the skin for flavoring stock…mmm.)

Cure:

  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 teaspoons pink salt*
  • 1/4 cup kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons juniper berries, crushed with the bottom of a small saute pan
  • 4 bay leaves, crumbled
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 4 or 5 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2.5 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

*Pink salt is a curing salt that contains nitrite and is sold under many names including Insta Cure #1 and DQ Curing salt. You can find it on Amazon.com or at www.butcher-packer.com.

Other equipment you may require: Cotton butcher’s twine and cheesecloth.

Start by cutting the belly into as uniform a square or rectangle as you can. Save the scraps for use in sausage or for making salt pork. (To make salt pork, cut the scraps into even pieces, dredge them in salt, and refrigerate in a sealed container for 12 days. Shake often to re-distribute the salt. After 12 days, rinse the pieces under cold water and pat dry. Store in the fridge in a sealed bag, they will keep for several months.)

Combine the ingredients for the cure and mix together well. Rub the cure all over the meat side of the belly and place it in a non-reactive container just large enough to hold it. This belly fit nicely in a 9 x 13 in. baking dish. Cover the container with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate the belly for 7 days. Rub it to redistribute the seasonings and flip it over every other day. After a week, check for firmness. If it feels firm at the thickest point, it is cured. If it still feels squishy, refrigerate for another day or two as needed. This one required 8 full days. Here it is at the end of the curing:

Remove the belly from the container and rinse it thoroughly under cool water. Pat dry. Sprinkle a little bit more coarsely ground black pepper on the meat side if you’d like.

From here you have two options: Pancetta is traditionally rolled up jelly-roll style and trussed into a cylindrical shape. However, if you don’t roll it tightly enough, air pockets can form inside and cause mold growth (ew). The other, easier option is to wrap the flat belly in cheesecloth, poke a hole in one corner and hang it to dry flat. I went with the latter choice.

Hang the belly in a fairly cool, dark, and slightly humid area for one week. If it begins to dry out and get hard, wrap and refrigerate it. Pancetta should be firm, but quite pliable. This is why humidity is important. If you are concerned that your air is not humid enough, put a small container of equal parts salt and water in your drying area. Our basement is fairly cool and humid and I cleaned out a closet down there for meat-drying…

Ruhlman writes that you can also opt to skip drying and that the pancetta will still taste great when it is cooked, but that the drying phase improves texture, intensifies flavor, and helps it last longer.

After drying, the pancetta should be wrapped in plastic and stored in the refrigerator for up to a month, or can be frozen for up to 4 months. Freezing makes it easier to slice thin.

Mine just went into the “meat closet” for drying last night, but I’ll post a picture when I cut into it. Yum.

Next up? The recipe for those links of soppressata hanging next to the pancetta.

Ciao for now,

Neen

Recipe Megapost: Joe’s Birthday Party

19 Mar

Yesterday was a perfectly beautiful spring day, the first we’ve had here in DC thus far. How appropriate that the warm weather decided to show up on Joe’s birthday! We had some friends over for a celebration and spent the evening enjoying wonderful company and (if I don’t say so myself) some pretty tasty food.

Since this bash fell on a Friday, I did a lot of prep in advance so that I wouldn’t have much to do when I got home from work (and so I could enjoy the party). On to the deliciousness…

Amuse-bouche: Caramelized Pearl Onions with Queso Blanco

  • 32 pearl onions, blanched and peeled
  • 1 dried cayenne pepper
  • ½ cup dry sherry
  • 2 tbsp. sugar
  • A few spoonfuls of liquid from canned beets
  • Sprig of fresh thyme

*Okay, here’s the thing. The recipes I referenced for this all called for red pearl onions. I can’t find them anywhere. I don’t know why. So, I cheated and dyed them red with some of the liquid from my home-canned beets. It added bonus flavor and made them an awesome color.

Put all of the ingredients into a pot and add water just to cover the onions. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, swirling the pan every so often to keep the onions from scorching.

Reduce until there is about ¼ cup of syrupy liquid left in the pan. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon and reserve syrup.

Queso Blanco

  • 1 gallon whole milk
  • ¼ cup white vinegar

Heat the milk, stirring frequently to keep from scorching. When it reaches 185 degrees, add the vinegar in 3 separate additions, stirring between each one. Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for five minutes, then stir for another five or until the curds have firmed up a little bit. Strain into a colander lined with cheesecloth and then hang the curds to drain for an hour.

You can salt to taste and use this as is, but I really wanted it to be firm so that I could cut it into cubes. So, if you have a cheese press, line a mold with cheesecloth and press the curds at 10 lbs. for 10 minutes, redress the cheese and then press at 25 lbs. for 3 hours.

Put it all together: Thread one onion and one cube of queso blanco onto a skewer and drizzle with the reserved syrup.

Appetizer: Crostini Duo

  • 2 baguettes, bias sliced and toasted

For Spinach, Artichoke and Caramelized Onion Crostini

  • 1/3 cup low-fat plain yogurt or Greek yogurt
  • 1/3 cup low-fat sour cream
  • 3 oz. Neufchatel cheese or cream cheese
  • 1 can of artichoke hearts, drained
  • 10 oz. fresh spinach
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp. dried thyme
  • 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • ½ tsp. dried cayenne pepper
  • Salt and pepper to taste

In a wide pan, sweat the diced onions in olive oil until soft, translucent and sweet. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the spinach and cook just until it has wilted. Set the pan aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the yogurt, cheese, sour cream, artichoke hearts, thyme, mustard, pepper, and a few pinches of salt. Pulse to combine. Add the spinach, onion and garlic to the food processor and pulse until it has a spreadable consistency.

Top each toasted baguette slice with the spread and serve at room temperature.

For Fromage Blanc, Basil and Roasted Red Pepper Crostini:

  • Roasted red peppers
  • Fromage blanc
  • Basil, chiffonade cut

To make the fromage blanc, heat 1 gallon of milk to 85 degrees and add a packet of fromage blanc starter. Stir vigorously for a minute or two and then cover the pot and allow the milk to ripen at room temperature for 12 hours. Scoop the curds into a colander lined with cheesecloth, and then hang them to drain for 6 hours. It should have the consistency of cream cheese. Salt to taste.

Top each toasted baguette slice with a layer of fromage blanc, diced roasted red peppers, and chiffonade basil.

Appetizer: Mushroom Strudel (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

I am sorry that I didn’t get more pictures of this process, but my hands were covered with butter most of the time and photography got the shaft. These are so good and you can make them in advance, freeze, and then bake as needed. Handy.

  • 1 package phyllo dough (40 sheets)
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1 pound cremini mushrooms
  • 1 medium onion, minced
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • Freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon dry sherry
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 sprig thyme
  • 4 to 6 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cook the onion in the butter until translucent and then add the mushrooms and nutmeg. Saute for 5 to 7 minutes, until liquid has been released and has partially evaporated. Add the sherry and evaporate the alcohol by cooking over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the flour, herbs, and some salt and pepper, and let cool. The mixture will be moist.

Take one sheet of phyllo at a time from their package; cover the remaining sheets with plastic and then a damp towel to keep them from drying out. Brush one half of the sheet lengthwise with butter. Fold the unbuttered side over the buttered side, carefully, smoothing out as best you can. Again, brush one half of this lengthwise with butter, and fold the unbuttered side over it again. You’ll end up with one long column.

Place spoonful of the mushroom filling near the end and sprinkle a teaspoon of parmesan over it. Begin folding one bottom corner of the phyllo strip over the filling until it meets the opposite edge, forming a triangle, as if you were folding a flag. Place the triangle seam side down on the baking sheet, brush lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with parmesan.

Bake for 15 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

Main Course: Porchetta

Normally, this is seared and roasted, but oven-space was at a premium and so I went the crock pot route.

  • 2 tbsp. canola oil
  • 4 lb pork loin roast
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth

Herb rub:

  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsp. fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley
  • 1 tbsp. kosher salt
  • 1/2 tbsp. lemon pepper
  • 1 tbsp. dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp. dried fennel seed
  • 1/2 tbsp. onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil

Combine all of the ingredients for the rub in a food processor and pulse until they form a paste.

Cut several inch-deep slits in the roast and stuff some of the rub inside of them. Slather the roast with the remaining rub.

At this point, I vacuum sealed mine to let it marinate for a few days.

In a large pan, sear the roast on all sides and then move it to the crock pot. Dioji was hypnotized by the smell of meaty goodness:

Add the broth to the pan to deglaze (scrape the bottom to get all of the bits of herby piggy goodness) and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes and then pour the liquid onto the roast in the crock pot.

Cook on high for 5-6 hours or on low for 7-8 hours. The roast ended up so tender that I shredded it and served it with the reduced cooking liquid.

Main Course: Cheese Manicotti with Zucchini Cayenne Marinara Sauce

I made the ricotta and mozzarella for these and you can find photo tutorials for them here.

Manicotti:

  • 3 eggs
  • 3 cups flour
  • 6 tbsp. olive oil
  • 5 tbsp. water

Filling:

  • 1 lb. ricotta cheese
  • ½ lb. mozzarella cheese, grated
  • A handful of grated parmesan
  • 1 egg
  • Fresh thyme and parsley to taste
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:

  • 2 zucchini, ¼ in. dice
  • 4 cans crushed tomatoes
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 4 dried cayenne peppers, diced
  • Dried thyme
  • Fresh parsley

To make the pasta dough, beat together the eggs, oil and water and then stir them into the flour. Get your hand in the bowl and begin to knead the dough together.Knead until it is smooth and then flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 min.

Roll the pasta into sheets, and then cut into 5 in. squares.

Boil the squares in salted water for 1-2 minutes. Drain and leave these to rest on damp towels.

Combine all of the ingredients for the filling and taste for seasoning.

Spoon a row of filling along one end of a pasta square and then carefully roll up into a tube shape. Place this, seam side down on a baking sheet while you prepare the others. If you are freezing them as I did, freeze them individually on a baking sheet before moving to a bag.

To make the sauce, sweat the onion in a few tablespoons of olive oil until translucent. Add the zucchini and garlic and sauté until everything is soft and fragrant. Add the tomatoes, peppers and spices and simmer for a few hours or until the consistency is to your liking. Add seasonings as needed.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spoon a thin layer of sauce onto the bottom of a 9×13 in. baking dish. Arrange the manicotti in rows and then top with the remaining sauce (and some extra cheese if you like).

Bake for 40 minutes or until cooked through. Cover with foil and rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Bread: No-Knead Bread (from Splendid Table)

I like this because you can make the dough, throw it in a bucket in the fridge and forget about it for several days before baking.

  • 1-1/2 tbsp. granulated yeast
  • 1 tbsp. kosher salt
  • 6-1/2 cups unbleached flour, plus extra for dusting dough
  • Cornmeal

In a large plastic resealable container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water. Using a large spoon, stir in flour, mixing until mixture is uniformly moist with no dry patches. Do not knead. Dough will be wet and loose enough to conform to shape of plastic container. Cover, but not with an airtight lid.

Let dough rise at room temperature, until dough begins to flatten on top or collapse, at least 2 hours and up to 5 hours. (At this point, dough can be refrigerated up to 2 weeks; refrigerated dough is easier to work with than room-temperature dough, so the authors recommend that first-time bakers refrigerate dough overnight or at least 3 hours.)

Place a broiler pan on bottom rack of oven. Place baking pan on middle rack and preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sprinkle a little flour on dough and on your hands. Pull dough up and, using a serrated knife, cut off a grapefruit-size piece (about 1 pound). Working for 30 to 60 seconds (and adding flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking to hands; most dusting flour will fall off, it’s not intended to be incorporated into dough), turn dough in hands, gently stretching surface of dough, rotating ball a quarter-turn as you go, creating a rounded top and a bunched bottom.

Place shaped dough on a piece of parchment and let rest, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Dust dough with flour.

Using a serrated knife, slash top of dough in three parallel, 1/4-inch deep cuts. Slide dough onto preheated baking sheet. Pour 1 cup hot tap water into broiler pan and quickly close oven door to trap steam. Bake until crust is well-browned and firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack and cool completely.

Dessert: Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Layer Cake

The guest of honor requested an ice cream cake with vanilla cake layers and Oreo ice cream.

  • Two layers of vanilla cake, cooled completely, wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen. I used this recipe.
  • Two layers of ice cream
  • Whipped cream

To make the ice cream layers, line two 9 in. pans with plastic wrap and scoop softened ice cream into each. Flatten out the ice cream by pressing another pan on top of it. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer to harden.

Stack the layers as such (from bottom to top): Cake, ice cream, cake, ice cream. Again, cover this in plastic wrap tightly and freeze. Before icing your cake, trim the sides as needed to make them even and neat. Frost the cake with whipped cream and return to the freezer. I decorated this one by piping tempered chocolate designs onto wax paper, letting them cool, and then applying them to the cake.

Dessert: Strawberry Jam Tart

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup dry cornmeal / polenta
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp.
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg, separated
  • ½ tsp. vanilla bean paste
  • 1 1/3 cup jam (I used strawberry, but anything will do)
  • 2 tbsp. coarse sugar

Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.

In a stand mixer, mix the butter and 1/2 cup sugar together until smooth. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla bean paste and beat until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix until the dough just comes together.

Transfer about one-third of the dough to a lightly floured counter and shape it into a log about 2 in. diameter. Wrap it in plastic wrap freeze for an hour.

Transfer the remaining dough to a buttered 9-inch spring form pan. Press the dough evenly into the bottom, going about 3/4-inch (2-cm) up the sides of the pan. Freeze the dough-lined pan until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spread the jam or marmalade evenly over the dough in the pan. Cut the chilled dough log into very thin discs with a sharp paring knife. Arrange them in overlapping concentric circles over the jam to form a top crust.

Whisk the remaining egg white with a teaspoon of water until frothy; brush evenly over the tart lid and then sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Bake until the top crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely before unmolding.

This holds up well and can be made up to 3 days in advance. Keep wrapped in plastic at room temperature.

The Final Treat: Pecan-Walnut Caramels

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 12 tbsp. butter
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract, or one vanilla bean, split and scraped
  • 12 oz. nuts (I used half pecans and half walnuts), toasted and chopped

Generously butter a 9×13 in. pan.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, corn syrup, butter, sweetened condensed milk, water, and vanilla bean paste. Stirring often, cook this mixture until it reaches 245 degrees F.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the salt and chopped nuts. Pour the caramel into the buttered pan and cool completely (about 2 hours).

Turn the slab of caramel out onto a cutting board and use a pizza wheel to cut into squares. I usually get 128 pieces of candy from this recipe. Wrap the candies in pieces of wax paper and store in a cool, dark place.

Hope you enjoyed checking out the menu. Thank you to everyone who joined us and made the party so much fun.

Ciao for now,

Neen

Press Your Luck: Farmhouse Cheddar

2 Mar

My dad is pretty handy. Proof? Take a look at what he built in my parents’ backyard last year:

When I decided that I really wanted to try making hard cheeses, I quickly realized that cheese presses weren’t exactly the most affordable pieces of equipment in the world. But the mechanism didn’t seem particularly complicated, and I was able to find simple plans on several websites (type “cheese press plans” into a search engine). Dad worked his magic and last weekend, I brought my press home to Arlington. (Thanks, dad!)

I decided to start with one of the simpler recipes in Ricki’s book, a farmhouse cheddar that would be ready to taste in about a month. The main reason I selected this recipe is that it offered the chance to practice many of the techniques involved in cheese making. Much like confectionery, the process is all about timing and chemistry. So, let’s cut to the cheese, err, chase:

First a note about these ingredients. The original recipe calls for double what you see here. I realized upon filling my pot with milk that two gallons weren’t going to fit and cut the recipe in half.

Click on any of the pictures to see larger versions.

  • -1 gallon whole milk
  • -One package of direct set mesophilic starter
  • -½ tbsp. cheese salt (non-iodized salt)
  • -¼ tablet rennet or ¼ tsp. rennet, dissolved in ¼ cup water. (I used double-strength rennet and needed only 1/8 tsp.)

Pour the milk into a large pot and place it in a sink of warm water. Gradually increase the temperature of the water bath, either by running more hot water from the tap or adding small amounts of boiling water, until the milk reaches 90 degrees F. Add the mesophilic starter and mix well for about a minute. Cover the pot and allow the milk to ripen for 45 minutes. Check the temperature every so often, you want to keep it as close to 90 degrees as possible. I left my pot in the warm water bath and added small amounts of hot water every 10 minutes or so to do this.

After 45 minutes, add the diluted rennet and stir, using a gentle up-and-down motion, for about a minute. Cover the pot and let it sit at 90 degrees F for 45 minutes or until the curd breaks cleanly. Cut the curd into a checkerboard pattern of ½ in. squares.

Again using the water bath method, slowly increase the temperature of the curd to 100 degrees. This can be a little tricky at first, since you don’t want to increase the temperature by more than 2 degrees every five minutes. Err on the slow side. Stir gently to keep the curds from matting together as they heat up. You’ll notice that they shrink a lot.

Once the curds reach 100 degrees, pour them into a colander lined with cheesecloth. Tie up the corners of the cheesecloth and hang the curds to drain in a non-drafty spot for an hour. You want to keep them fairly warm, so I hung them over the pot I used for heating.

After an hour, move the drained curd to a bowl and gently break into walnut sized pieces. Add the salt to the curds and toss lightly with your fingers to distribute evenly.

Firmly pack the curds into a mold (the teal pvc pipe pictured) lined with cheesecloth. Put the mold on top of an inverted plate over a pie pan. This allows the excess liquid to drain away from the cheese.

Fold the cheesecloth over the curds and place a snug fitting follower on top of them. Then add the pusher (the thinner, white piece of pvc pipe). Finally, place the board on top of the pusher and add weights as necessary.

For farmhouse cheddar, press at 10lbs. of pressure for 10 minutes, then remove, flip the cheese over and redress it in the cheesecloth…

Then 20lbs. of pressure for 10 minutes, flip, and redress…

And finally at 50lbs. of pressure (Fact: The Joy of Cooking and On Cooking weigh 10lbs.) for 12 hours. Don’t do what I did and neglect to think about how this would time out; I had to get up at 3 a.m. to take the 50lb. weights off. D’oh.

After 12 hours, you should have something that looks like this. Personally, I like the rather attractive dent left on one side from the inverted plate:

Put your cheese on a wooden board and allow it to air-dry at room temperature for 2-4 days. Turn it every so often to keep moisture from collecting on one side. Once the cheese has dulled in appearance and is no longer moist to the touch, you are ready to wax it.

Prior to waxing, refrigerate the cheese for several hours. You may also wipe it down with a paper towel dampened with vinegar to discourage mold growth.

Melt the cheese wax in a double-boiler until it reaches 210 degrees. Gently paint it on the cheese using a natural bristle or silicone brush, one side at a time.

Cover the wheel in two thin coats. My wax job was a little bit messy for a first rodeo, but I’m not really in a beauty contest here. You can always remove the wax and redo it (particularly useful if you decide to age it longer after cutting into it the first time), but we’ll see how things look in a month.

Age in a cool (below 68 degrees) environment for at least one month. Since the aging process began yesterday, I’ll be reporting back on 4-1-11 to let you know how it tastes. Hopefully it will not be a cruel April Fool’s joke.

Ciao for now,

Neen

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →