Raspberry Coffee Cake

Some days, breakfast just isn't worth having without coffee cake. When E was born, I perfected this recipe so I would have something yummy to look forward to when I woke up with him before dawn. Of late I have been subsisting on Entenman's raspberry danish twist. Which is great, but not always so fresh and not always available at my Randall's. So last night, when Nana invited us all over for an early dinner after she watched E all day, I took the opportunity to make my beloved coffee cake. (Big shout out to Nana for all the help she gives on Thursdays!!)

Note: I've tried this with blueberry jam, dried blueberries, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, and now pine nuts. Blueberries are out. The flavor of the jam gets totally lost and the dried blueberries are too heavy so it' s hard to get enough of them on there without killing the cake. Hazelnuts are wonderfully crunchy, but must be toasted and peeled (not the quickest method). Pecans are a good standby because I almost always have them in the pantry. Almonds are great and you can sub in almond extract to bring out their flavor.

This version contains pine nuts. I'd say that they add a similar texture to pecans but with less flavor. They certainly make it unique and add a fun Italian twist. So, if you have tons of pine nuts on hand, they'll do in a pinch.

Raspberry Struesel Coffee Cake (tweaked generously from Best Recipe)
Don't use a mixer or the cake will come out dense and brown. If you're like me and forget to soften the butter ahead of time, zap it in the microwave for 45 seconds on 10% power. It's better for the butter to be too hard than too soft or you'll end up with over browned cake.

2	cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1	cup granulated sugar
1	teaspoon table salt
10	tablespoons unsalted butter ( 1 1/4 sticks), softened
1	teaspoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
3/4	cup buttermilk (or low-fat plain yogurt)
1	large egg
1	teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4	cup nuts
1/2	cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4	c raspberry jam

Instructions

1. 1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease bottom and lightly grease sides of 10-inch pan.
   

2. 2. Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in large mixing bowl until blended. Add butter and cut with pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Remove 1 cup of crumbs to separate bowl.

3. 3. Whisk baking powder and soda into mixture remaining in large mixing bowl. Add buttermilk or yogurt, egg, and vanilla; whisk vigorously by hand until batter is thick, smooth, fluffy, and frostinglike, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top.

4. Beat raspberry jam until smooth. Pour over batter and spread with a spoon
   

5. 4. Add nuts, brown sugar and 1 tsp vanilla or almond extract to reserved crumbs; toss with a fork or your hands until blended. Sprinkle crumbs over batter, pressing lightly so that mixture adheres. Bake cake until center is firm and cake tester comes out clean, 40 minutes. Transfer cake to rack; Let cool before serving.
   

Veal Marsala

The veal is a bit expensive, but you're almost paying for the convenience of having such a primo meal in under 30 minutes. So far it seems very forgiving and simple since I've tried it a few different ways and they all turn out yummy. We discussed trying it with chicken, but the effort of pounding or butterflying to get it thin enough takes all the fun and convenience out of it. Besides, this is the only veal recipe I have other than involtini which is a ridiculous amount of work and dirty dishes.

Notes: I've used sweet Marsala in the past and it should be cut with chicken broth so it doesn't seem too sugary. This time I used Dry Marsala and it gave great flavor without the cloying sweetness. I would probably try it with a bay leaf or some thyme next time to give it another level of complexity.

Veal Marsala for 2 (no leftovers):
5 veal scallopini cutlets
2 8 oz cartons of pre-sliced baby bella mushrooms
3-4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp EVO
2 garlic cloves
1 shallot, minced (optional)
1/2 c chicken broth (forgot it, but extra sauce would've been nice)

Heat large skillet to med-high. S+P the veal, dredge in flour. Melt butter and EVO in pan. Working in batches, add 3 cutlets and cook 1 1/2 min per side. Set aside on plate and keep warm with foil while doing 2nd batch and mushrooms. Add butter to skillet for second batch as necessary.

Add mushrooms, shallot and garlic to pan. Cook 5 min or until they begin to give off juices. Add s+p and continue to cook 5 min. Add Marsala to deglaze, add chick broth and reduce by 1/2. Add cutlets back in to coat with sauce and warm up 1 min.

Served with green salad and leftover mashed potatoes. And yes, I like a lot of mushrooms.

Pork Tenderloin, Green Beans, Sweet Potato Puree

In the vein of one of those Top Chef-y pun competitions, I thought about titling this "Pork and Beans."

Port Tenderloin: pre-marinated Herb Dijon tenderloin from Central Market. So fast if you can get your husband to pre-heat the grill on time. He grills it for about 18 min total for medium-medium well.

Green Beans: No pain, no gain. These summer beauties are no haricot verts and are annoying to prep but worth it. I've discovered that we prefer our gb's sauteed rather than blanched or braised as Cooks Illustrated suggests. It seems more like what we're used to or more Southern (especially Southern when you add bacon). They're worried about the beans losing their vibrant color, but who isn't used to drab color from a can? Anything is prettier and fresher than that!

2 handfuls of gb's
1 strip bacon
1/2 c chicken stock
S&P

Trim ends of gb's and cut in half. Put bacon into cold pan and turn heat on to med heat. Flip a few times with tongs so it doesn't get curly and cook until crispy. Remove bacon to paper towels. toss gb's into pan and sautee for 5 min. Pour in chick stock and scrape up any fond from the bacon. Cover and cook for about 15 min or until tender.

Sweet Potato Puree: Easy but can turn out like baby food with the wrong utensils. The wrong utensil would be the food processor. It cuts all the lovely sinews from the potato and it's too easy to over mix. I prefer the beater attachment on my stand mixer. If you don't use the foil, you'll end up with sugar burnt onto your baking sheet and it's near impossible to clean.

2 sweet potatoes
2-3 tbsp butter
S&P

Preheat to 4oo. Roast sp's on a cookie sheet lined with foil for 40-50 min. Remove and let cool for 5-10 min until you can handle them without killing yourself. Cut a slit in each one and pinch the ends while dumping them into the mixing bowl. Should fall righ out of the skin, but a fork may help. Add butter and s&p, mix until desired puree.

Strawberries macerated in Cointreau

Inspired by my shortcake recipe and without the time to make shortcakes, we've been eating the strawberries in Cointreau straight up. I also had to try the reddi-whip on the fourth of July to bring to a pool party--not making homemade whip cream on site with 2 bambinos in tow and I didn't think it would hold up in the heat. I ended up forgetting the shortcakes with all the gear we had. They were star-shaped too! And so this desert was born out of necessity.

Last night we got some plain mini-scones from Central Market and they make an excellent stand-in for the shortcakes. Also splurged on Hagen daas vanilla ice cream--man is it sweet! Think we'll stick to the whipped cream.

Spaghetti a la Carbonara

Spaghetti a la Carbonara














In my first ever attempt at photographing food with my new fancy blackberry, you will behold this stick-to-your ribs, creamy, salty masterpiece. Used Giada's Everyday Italian recipe with a few tweaks.

Note: I used frozen pancetta since I couldn't make it to the grocery store due to competing nap schedules. I could tell that it had lost some freshness in the pepper flavor, but the amount of pep you add to the recipe makes up for it. Texture was the same and not watery at all).

1 lb spaghetti
4 thick slices pancetta
4 eggs (instead of her 6)
1/2 c half and half (no cream on hand, but I prefer heavy cream)
2 tbsp chopped parsley (mine was wilty and it didn't provide the fresh green kick that parsley should. I also sometimes like chives as a garnish)
1 1/4 C parmesan

Boil water for pasta. Brown pancetta in 1-2 tbsp EVOO. Stir in 1/8 tsp pepper and remove from heat. Mix room temp eggs, cream, 1/4 tsp pepper, and 1/4 C parmesan in medium bowl.

Cook pasta (penne rigante is yummy for this too). When it's al dente (one minute before the time on the box), remove 1 C pasta water and transfer drained pasta directly to pancetta pan. Pour egg mixture over hot pasta and toss with tongs. If sauce is too thick, pour in some pasta water until it's the consistency you like. Add remaining parm and parsley.

And for dessert...
More Cointreau and Strawberries! Learning to appreciate Costco quantities!

Chicken Pot Pie Experience

After collecting all the ingredients for roast chicken with vegetables, I find that there is no acceptable chicken in the grocery aisle. I would have gone for whole birds even though that seemed a little intense for a Monday. But the only ones they had looked like they were about to pop their plastic vacuum seal. I had such success with the root beer BBQ chicken last week that I wanted to try it again with some different flavors or a different sauce. I basically just wanted some chickens with some darn bones so that it would have some flavor and some juiciness whether I brined or not. No dice, I could either buy a value pack of 20 breasts or the pitiful cutlets. The whole birds were not an option. So I found the last 2 packs of pitiful bone-in breasts hiding near the organic stuff and labeled "Buddy's natural chicken." They were random sizes and not fit to be eaten alone. So I decided they must be roasted and broken down. Either I would sacrifice them for a chicken salad (mmm curry and raisins) or throw them in a pot pie.

This should explain why the pot pie was slightly cursed from the beginning. Usually when I make it it's intended to satisfy some deep craving for comfort food. But I just happened to have a bag of frozen veggies and the most important ingredient for my shortcut pot pie--a roll of biscuits. After my sad attempt, I wanted to catalog some lessons learned:

• frozen carrots have no taste
• I prefer tarragon as a scent or infusion in roast chicken, not as an herb in my pot pie
• milk makes the biscuits brown perfectly (will try this on the shortcakes)
• splitting the biscuits is critical. I did a shingling effect that looked a bit like monkey bread when it came out, but if I had left them whole, they would have been doughy underneath
• 3 tbsp butter and 3 tbsp flour is not enough to thicken 4+ cups of liquid. Duh.
  

Salmon with Balsamic Glaze

I deviated from my usual soy-brown sugar glaze because I actually looked up the recipe for once only to find that it was never soy sauce at all but balsamic vinegar. Interestingly, this was the very last recipe in my epicurious recipe box when it default sorted by when they were added. I can only assume that this must have been my introduction to epicurious and the early days of experimentation living alone in San Antonio. So as a farewell tribute (to the recipe), I used the epicurious/bon apetit official version of the sauce:

Balsamic Glaze
1/2 c balsamic
1/2 c dry white wine (used sav. blanc)
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp brown sugar

Combine, reduce to 1/3 C. About 20 min.

Roasted salmon on a foil lined shallow baking dish at 400 for 12 min. Brushed on glaze and cranked it to 450 for the last 5 min. It was slightly overdone so I'd say no more than 13-14 min total and the crank-it-up step was pretty useless so just maintain 400.

Sadly, the original glaze was not as interesting or complex as my soy-brown sugar glaze (thus the farewell part of the tribute). The soy adds alot of depth and umami (ha! I guess the kikoman commercials are right). So here's the typical recipe for the winning sauce that can go on anything from greens to rice to chicken nuggets (yes, it's been done. See recipe for "E's special sauce" which is a minor simplification.)

Soy- Brown sugar Glaze
1/2 C soy sauce
1/2 C brown sugar
Juice of half a lemon
Optional:
grated ginger
minced garlic
honey (to sweeten or alter consistency)

Mix all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Simmer 10 min. Turn off heat once desired flavors are achieved because it will thicken as it cools.

In an uninteresting side note, we also had mustard greens with bacon and lemony couscous. The smokey southern style sauteed greens were a bit strange with the tangy balsamic salmon. I think the bacon didn't much belong.

For the couscous, I had run out of chicken broth and made it with water and threw in the spent lemon rinds to see if they'd zest it up. The couscous tasted alot like the water it was simmered in. Next time I'll rememeber that it is merely a vehicle for flavorings and season accordingly.

Indoor Root Beer BBQ

This recipe is from Bon Appetit years ago and we have it at least once a summer. Normally, it's so labor intensive--brining, rubbing, basting, smoking-- that D saves it for company. Since the wee ones are preventing us from doing much entertaining, I had to figure out a way to get our fix and it turned out to be super easy. We had it with some sauteed squash and zucchini and a box of garlic and olive oil rice (Far East). It was devoured by the boy when presented as leftovers (the chicken and rice, not the squash.)

1 package bone-in chicken breasts
McCormick BBQ rub
Root Beer BBQ sauce
butter

BBQ Sauce
Ginger gives this sauce a spicy punch.

1 cup root beer
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon mild-flavored (light) molasses
1 teaspoon liquid smoke*
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Combine all ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 20 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Cool slightly. Transfer to bowl. Cover and refrigerate. (Can be made 2 weeks ahead; keep refrigerated.)

*Smoke-flavored liquid seasoning is available at specialty foods stores and many supermarkets.


Brine chickens: about 1 C salt and 1 C sugar in a large pot filled with water for 30 min to 1 hr. Dry them on paper towels

Make BBQ Sauce.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rub chickens over and under skin with BBQ rub. Brush outside of chickens with 2 tbsp melted butter. ( I forgot this step and the skin started looking zombie-like and gray). Place breast side up on a shallow foil lined pan.

Roast for 20 minutes or until juices start to run out. Baste with Root Beer BBQ sauce and turn the heat up to 450. Roast another 10 min to set the glaze.

Day late and a dollar short

Started reading Julie/ Julia book which is a book about a blog about a (cook) book. The girl is from Austin and lives in NYC in a crap old apartment similar to the Amateur Gourmet. Why is cooking in a crap old tiny NYC apartment so intriguing to the general public? It is to me for sure and I can't get enough of the stuff. But, why did she have to go all the way to NYC to be interesting? How do I make cooking in a decent-sized central Austin kitchen with two rug rats interesting? Well, I don't live in NYC and have a pretty normal life and will never become famous from blogging about matchstick carrots in my son's teriyaki but it's the pursuit....and the pursuit of interesting and intriguing is the whole reason to cook.

Grandpa's Birthday

Evan sat at the table with us for a nice steak dinner for Grandpa's birthday. He ate corn on the cob (or do you say "corn off the cob" when emphasizing that he picked it up and ate it rather than us having to cut the kernels for him), 1 bite of creamed spinach, french fries, and tiny steak bites. "Tastes good, mommy." I love that he actually says "mmmm, mmm" when he first puts a bite in his mouth. He ate all this despite consuming enormous amounts of frosting while making a football cake with Gigi and then jumping on the couch and smearing his chocolaty face into the cushions. The actual slice of cake was no where near as interesting as the tiny icing stars that Gigi had made all around the edge of it.

The right jar

....of marinara. I typically like and make Giada's marinara but since the return of convenience foods to our house (about 4 months ago when Wesley was born), I've had to search for a good jar of sauce. In the past it was so rare that we ate a quick spaghetti dinner that even if I found a jar that I liked, the likelihood of me remembering the name was low. Recently I settled on Amy's Organic sauce even though it's pretty sweet. If you doctored it up with CM Italian sausage, it was good. Then I had to find some at Randall's and discovered the Bertolli Garlic and Olive Oil Marinara. I figured if they make a good olive oil, the sauce should be good. And now that we are bargain hunters (sort of), we decided to try Mario Batali's Marinara from CM. Evan gobbled it down on his spaghetti (with a bit of turkey sausage from the freezer). Then I made it into

Vodka Sauce with penne and scallops

1 jar Batali Marinara
3/4 C vodka
1/2 C heavy cream

It tasted almost exactly like my homemade sauce. It seems the secret ingredient is thyme. Who else but Mario would know to put something other than the typically italian sauce herbs in there. I'm sure he would argue that it is more traditional than tomatoes in the sauce so what do I know.

Scallops with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

This vinaigrette has renewed our interest in scallops. Hallelujah for a nice light summer seafood dish. A department where my repertoire is sorely lacking.

Sear scallops with salt and pepper in olive oil. Drizzle with vinaigrette. It's nice with bacon crumbled on top but not totally necessary

Vinaigrette:
6-10 basil leaves

4 thyme sprigs
1 tsp Dijon
1 tbsp lemon
salt
pepper
3-4 tbsp olive oil

Ribs

Domino Super Easy Ribs

One rack and one recipe for the sauce is plenty for 2. Doesn't take long to cook. Good for easy Sunday meal. If you want extra sauce, take some out before adding the raw garlic. It was way too garlicky as a sauce.

3 racks baby back ribs, 2 lbs each
1+ tbsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 C dijon
1/2 C dark brown sugar
1/4 C cider vinegar
1/4 C honey
4 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp cayenne (skipped it)

Turn on one side of gass grill to med-high eat. Preheat to 300 degrees. Sprinkle room temp ribs with salt and pepper. Place bone-side down on grill far away from heat. Cover and cook until meat pulls back slightly form bone (1 1/4-1 1/2 hours). Combine remaining ing in bowl. When ribs are cooked, brush with glaze and cook 2-3 min. Repeat for other side.

Yum.

Snapper

nothing to write home about. It was a flop with chewy skin when I pan roasted it. Better when I broiled it with lime juice for E.