Next up...

Jambalaya!

Made from scratch with more flavor than I ever imagined. I made it last night with shrimp and sausage - so easy and healthy! This will definitely be in regular rotation in my kitchen. Pictures and post up soon!

Bon App-Alysse!

Carrot Cake!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, but I have been cooking! While my Australia boys were in town, I was inspired by a Food Network show to make a carrot cake. Lo and behold, I had a bag of carrots in my fridge that were dying to be eaten. Especially eaten in a delicious, moist cake.

I used the Best Carrot Cake Recipe Ever because I felt like I could really throw a fit if it wasn't, in fact, the best carrot cake ever. Unfortunately, it was delicious.

It was super easy to make - from grating the carrots, to mashing up the pineapple, only taking maybe 15 minutes tops. Which was good since I had guests.

I ended up not adding the raisins for walnuts - for no reason except we didn't have any.

Even the frosting I had to improvise on. Without cream cheese, I couldn't create the traditional cream cheese frosting. Instead, I combined butter, powdered sugar, and a good amount of cinnamon to create a basic frosting.



As a frosting expert, I have to say, adding the cinnamon really enhanced the flavor. After some ample 'chef taste testing,'  I'm surprise there was any left for the cake!

Of course, once the cake was out, I couldn't wait to put on the frosting. As soon as the frosting hit the cake, it started melting. This could have been HORRIBLE! But instead, it looked really nice and basically frosted itself. All in all, this was my first carrot cake and will not be my last.

Bon App-Alysse!

Pan Fried Steak and Sweet Potato Fries

Last night I made a marinated steak and some sweet potato fries. I kind of thought it would be an easy night - how hard can fries be, really? Little do I know... but more on that later.

Lets start with the good: the steak. I marinated it in "The Best Steak Marinade in Existence"which was a mix of soy sauce, oilve oil, Worcester sauce, lemon juice, with some garlic, parsley and basil. It was super simple and the only ingredients that I needed to buy were the steaks. I mixed everything together in a small mixer, threw it in a bag and let it sit in the fridge for an hour (because of my lack of planning, one hour was all the time I had).

When it was time to cook, I put the steaks in some heated olive oil and added some of the extra marinade. Cooked each side for about 5 minutes each, then cooked them again for the same since they were still pretty rare. Now usually I like my steaks bloody, but I think with the fry fiasco the steaks became less important. Next time I would fry them 5 or 6 minutes less, but they finished medium and had a great flavor.

I also read something about frying them for only a few minutes on each side, them removing them from the direct heat and letting the residual heat cook the rest of the meat. I will definitely be trying this sometime. Anyone have experience with this technique?

So... the stupid sweet potatoes.  I used Paula Deen's recipe which calls for 5 sweet potatoes. I used three enormous ones instead and spent about half an hour cutting them up after peeling.

SO MANY SWEET POTATOES!

Really, I had to use two different counters in my kitchen to hold all of them.

I should have been tipped off when reading the recipe because it calls for 1 cup of salt along with a mixed bag of other seasonings. That is a lot of salt.

It says to mix the potatoes with the salt mixture, then to add oil, and then add some parsley on top. Well let me tell you, when I added the seasoning, you couldn't even see the potatoes. They were just covered completely. I thought that was how they were supposed to be and didn't think much of it. I should have.

I put two different pans in the oven (one to cook for a short time to give me the squishy fries I like, and the other to get them crispy like Will likes). We took mine out first, tried them and gagged. "That's too much, Bob!"

I tried putting the fries into a colander to shake some of the seasoning off, tried rubbing it off with paper towels. Nothing really worked. However! I was not going to give up on them! Which is why I had a little tizzy when Will grabbed the plate with MY squishy (though not edible) fries and threw them straight into the trash can! Of course he didn't touch his plate of fries. Goodness.

Luckily we had another batch of chopped up potatoes for round two. I put the potatoes straight onto the baking sheet and then sprinkled them with the salt mix. They tasted much better, until I poured them into the first batch, thinking that the first batch would get better. They didn't and the last batch got contaminated :(

Oh well! Better luck next time. You can see in this picture that there were some edible fries from the third batch. And yes, those brown, cat litter looking clumps are the first two batches. Aye...

Bon App-Alysse!

FAIL

Last night I had my first cooking fail! And of all the recipes, it was fries. Sweet potato fries. I'm ashamed. More to come soon.

Bon App-Alysse!

Next up...

Meat and potatoes!

With a twist of course. Tonight I'm craving steak! I'm going to make a marinade of some sort and then pan fry steak.

As for the potatoes, I'll be baking some spicy sweet potato fries! Hopefully squishy fries, not to crisp, just the way I like it.

Now to find some recipes for a marinade. Will was thinking a Caribbean Jerk marinade... do you have a signature glaze or flavor that is simply delicious?


Bon App-Alysse!

Curry!!!

In my quest for the perfect curry, I've tried over 7 recipes. While some have come close to matching the "I want to literally drink this from the serving bowl" flavor I've had at some restaurants, I feel like I'm getting further and further away from the taste I want.

Last week I found an Indian recipe book and tried a basic chicken curry that had some different ingredients that I was used to. Ultimately, it was bland and lacked the flavor that I love. However... I did remember to pick up some garlic naan that saved the day. Nothing can taste bad when eaten on some buttery naan!

Yesterday I tried creating a curry based on my instinct alone. I figured that I had made enough to know what ingredients and flavors I like. Below is a recipe (based on memory) from that night. Note that the amount on the ingredient is completely made up based on what I think I used. Also, the cat helped:

Alysse's Currrray

2 cloves garlic
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
Assorted veggies

1.5 cups stock
2/3 can of low fat coconut milk

2-3 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup brown sugar (start with less, add more to taste)
2 tbsp minced ginger

Seasonings: Mom's Curry Mix-
Sweet curry, garam masala, vindaloo, maharajah - probably, maybe a tsp of each? maybe a tbsp of the sweet curry and maharajah. I have no idea, I just smelled them all and added at will, then added some more.


Heat some oil in a large, deep pan. Add garlic until aromatic. Add finely chopped onion, saute for a few minutes.

Then add the rest of your veggies. I used what I had in my fridge - broccoli, spinach, carrots. Saute for a few minutes.

Add chicken stock and one third can of coconut milk and simmer.

Add tomato paste, some brown sugar. I know that I love a sweet curry, so I used a lot of brown sugar. You may want to start with less and work your way up. Add ginger and spices. Salt and pepper to taste.

Stir and add the rest of the coconut milk, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve over rice and enjoy!



So there's my curry recipe! You can tell that I like a sweet curry, and I think the brown sugar is the best way to get that flavor. I'm still looking for suggestions on spices or things to add for the perfect curry. Any ideas??

Bon App-Alysse!

Next up...

Curry!! My favorite. I just found a recipe book of Indian cooking, and I have basically all the ingredients. I'll be picking up some chicken and onions on my way home from work tomorrow, and then am embarking on some Chicken Korma. Ideally looking like this... 

Bon App-Alysse!

Meatloaf and Couliflower Au Gratin

Last week was super stressful! But what isn't stressful? Meatloaf.

It took about 5 minutes of prep time - I think I shaved off a few minutes when I didn't exactly read the recipe well and mixed all of the ingredients in at once (instead of using the brown sugar and such for more of a glaze).

Mixing all the ingredients together was DELICIOUS! Very sweet because of the brown sugar. I would consider cutting down half a tablespoon, but Will gave me a death stare when I mentioned this.

The Cauliflower Au Gratin was a little more work (recipe here) but ultimately excellent. It was a little more creamy/cheesy than I usually like, but hey, that's what it's supposed to be!

My favorite part was making the almond milk. First I roasted the almonds in a pan for a few minutes, then ground up the nuts and let them soak in milk. I don't like milk too much, but the almond milk was great! 

Unfortunately I didn't have the best tools or making this well, so I made a pretty good mess trying to separate the grounds from the milk. I ended up getting a little frustrated and let some of the almond pieces into the au gratin... but I think it just added some nice texture.

Ultimately the combo of the cheesy cauliflower and the sweet meatloaf were amazing together. I will definitely save the meatloaf recipe, probably doubling it next time (Will and I had only two meals out of it! Disappointing).

Bon App-alysse!

Tonight's Recipe....

Meatloaf and Potatoes Au Gratin.

I thought I was going to be swamped with editing work tonight, but looks like I'll have some time for cooking instead! My favorite side dish since I was little is potatoes aug rotton. Since I'm growing up, it's time for my potatoes to do the same. I'm making a recipe called Cauliflower Gratin with Machego and Almonds. Guess I better figure out what Machego is before I go to the store...

And then meatloaf, thanks to Will's suggestion. No real reason, except that meatloaf is delicious and it seems to easy to cook. We'll see how it goes tonight! Still searching for the perfect meatloaf recipe - do you know the best one?

Bon AppAlysse!


http://www.houseboateats.com/2009/11/cauliflower-gratin-with-manchego-and-almonds.html - Potatoes

http://www.momswhothink.com/easy-recipes/meatloaf-recipe.html

Chicken Coq Au Vin!

Last night was Chicken Coq Au Vin! Challenging in a few ways:


1st:  Cooking with wine
2nd: Making mushrooms (ew) - I've never really like mushrooms. So why did I choose to cook them? Who knows.
3rd: There were 3 recipes going on at the same time


I started off strong when I stumbled across this line in the opening paragraphs, "In a heavy large heavy bottomed casserole or Dutch oven."  What in the world does that mean!?! Luckily I had 2 versions of the recipe at my disposal, the experienced chef's version with fancy words, and the one I actually used. Once I figured out that "heavy large heavy bottomed casserole" means "pan" (stupid...) I was ready to go.


Next stumble - wrong type of bacon. Truthfully I didn't really even know that you could buy bacon in a way other than the strips. I still don't really know if you can. But I think you can, and I think that's what I was supposed to use. I need recipe cliffnotes.

Luckily, I barely noticed these mistakes because of my new, awesome apron! I've never had an apron. Suddenly I felt like a real cook (and also like a housewife... didn't like that feeling too much...). But thank you, Will! Excellent birthday present. And double points for not picking a pattern with mini cupcakes or watermelons.

Eventually I had the chicken cooking with the bacon, and poured in the wine to let it simmer for awhile. All was fine until I realized I had to start the second recipe and then I panicked a little and made Will put down the camera and help me manage. Then I took a breath and everything was fine. The chicken and bacon simmered in the wine for about half an hour; during that time I started with the 20 tiny white onions.

I'd never used the tiny onions before, but they were DELICIOUS! To cook them, I sauteed them in butter and was supposed to fill a cheesecloth with herbs. Unfortunately, I have never once heard of this so called "cheesecloth." And why it is not holding cheese? I used a coffee filter and a twist tie - it worked fine.

The best moment was mixing in the flour to the left over wine and stock that the chicken was cooking in. IT THICKENED! I was so excited. Then I actually tried it and it was actually delicious.

I would recommend serving the dish immediately and not leaving left overs. I reheated some for a midnight snack and it was a weird texture. Looked kind of like blueberry yogurt... mixed with chicken and mushrooms... I didn't take a picture of that for obvious reasons. It was still good the second time around, but not as appealing.

Overall, a success!! Though I think we're throwing out the leftovers... only because of the texture. It still smells delicious... but texture is the same reason I don't eat oysters, so I don't feel too bad.

The recipe is far too long to post on here, but feel free to check it out at the Food Network site (for the easier to understand version, go to What's Cooking America?)

Bon App-Alysse!

Next up...

Julia's Chicken Coq Au Vin.

Since working at a fondue restaurant, I've always been intrigued by cooking with wine. This next recipe will be my first time doing so! Looks like I'll actually have to spend more than $6 on a bottle...

Recipe

Any tips on cooking with wine??

Julia Child's Chocolate Mousse

If you know me, you know I LOVE chocolate. Or anything sweet. Especially icing. Therefore, it was time to try this chocolate mousse recipe. I was inspired to make it from the chocolate creamy thing from Julie and Julia and it was delicious. I got the recipe from David Lebovitz's blog.

Chocolate Mousse
(serves 6-8, or alysse and will 5 times)

6 ounces (170g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces (170g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup (60ml) dark-brewed coffee

4 large eggs, separated

2/3 cup (170g), plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons (30ml) dark rum
1 tablespoon (15ml) water
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat a saucepan one-third full with hot water, and in a bowl set on top, melt together the chocolate, butter and coffee, stirring over the barely simmering water, until smooth. Remove from heat. I used the Obsidian roast from Caribou Coffee - their second darkest and my favorite blend. I'd be interested to make 1/4 cup with more grounds to make it an even stronger flavor.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.

3. In a bowl large enough to nest securely on the saucepan of simmering water, whisk the yolks of the eggs with the 2/3 cup of sugar, rum, and water for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thick, like runny mayonnaise. You can use an electric mixer - and maybe should. This took more like 5 minutes of Will and I passing off whisking duty. But! While the whisking was rough, it really felt like I earned it when I was finished.
 
3. Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water and beat until cool and thick, as shown in the photo above. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Continue to beat until they start to hold their shape. Whip in the tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until thick and shiny, but not completely stiff, then the vanilla. This took only a couple minutes and was much easier/more rewarding since I could quicky see the result.

5. READ THIS ENTIRE STEP FIRST: Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder of the whites just until incorporated, but don't overdo it or the mousse will lose volume. 

6. Transfer the mousse to a serving bowl or divide into serving dishes, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm. I transferred a majority into a bowl, with a solid chunk in another bowl that I planned to eat an hour out. It was delicious. 


This would be amazing served with strawberries or raspberries. I prefer straight out of the mixing bowl.

Bon App-Alysse!