So apparently I have a problem.
I’ve started taking perfectly non-Halloweeny snacks and turning them black and orange.
See? Do you see this? What is this about?
This should have been a simple jar of pudding. Just pudding, made with milk and brown sugar and a vanilla bean, creamy and simple, from scratch.
But no.
…
Those things up there? They’re springy. Stickyish. Sweet and sugared, square and bouncebouncebouncy. Those, my friends, are marshmallows.
They’re actually Halloween-themed marshmallows, on account of they’re orange. That’s on account of the food coloring which, of course, is on account of the upcoming jack o’lanterned holiday. So, you know. Themes.
I’ve been wanting to make my own marshmallows for awhile now. When I worked in the kitchen at Liddabit Sweets, I made marshmallow all the time – sticky, gooey stuff we’d spread as filling for some sick (like, si-hiiiick, in a good way) candy bars, but until now I’ve never tackled the at-home marshmallow set. Now that it’s done, it’s going to be a thing. I’m pretty sure of it. I’ve got long lists of mallowy flavors in my head, so I’m just saying: consider yourself warned.
…
My littlest sister, a Wisconsin resident and Packer fan, wanted me to name this post “GO SIX PACK GO.” She then thought better of the idea, deciding that “few people will get it. But I will, and Dad will. And then Dad will explain it to Mom and she still won’t get it.”
All true.
So, um, Go Packers? Cheese head pride?
To be perfectly honest, I don’t much care about the football being played at this year’s Super Bowl (sorry, Pops). I’m mostly in it for the food. And maybe the occasional E-Trade commercial. Oh, and the prospect of a new (!) episode (!) of GLEE following the game (don’t judge. You know you’re a closet Gleek).
Super Bowl food is just good. It’s salty and tangy and creamy and cheesy and… salty. And it doesn’t apologize for being so. The Super Bowl says, give me some wings. And some blue cheese. And guacamole. And some beer and a pizza and some chips. Chips, dammit! With dip.
Well, fine.
Homemade Wheat Pita Chips with Creamy Garlic Edamame Dip
I know it’s easy to find good pita chips at the grocery store, so if you go with store-bought I’ll understand, but I feel obligated to tell you that making your own is just so much more fun. And your game day friends will really appreciate you going the extra yard. You know, for the first down.
Zing.
*Note: Za’atar is a Middle Eastern spice mix made up of dried herbs, sesame seeds, salt and sumac. You can find it in specialty shops or else you can mix up your own.
Ingredients:
For pita chips:
For edamame dip:
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. In a medium bowl, combine the olive oil and spices and mix to combine. Cut the pita breads into wedges (1 small pita bread should yield 8 wedges), and dip each wedge into the oil & spice mixture until fully coated. Place pita wedges in a single layer on a baking sheet or two. Bake the pita wedges in a hot oven for about 7 minutes (or until lightly browned), and then use tongs to flip each wedge, and cook for another 7 minutes, until chips are brown and crispy. Remove the chips from the oven and let cool.
To make the edamame dip, toss the edamame beans, mascarpone, garlic, salt and pepper, and a splash or two of olive oil into a food processor or blender. Blitz on high until chunky but starting to combine. Drizzle in more olive oil, a little at a time, as you continue to blend, stopping when the mixture is smooth and creamy. Taste the dip and adjust the seasonings – feel free to add more garlic, salt or pepper as necessary. Serve with homemade pita chips.
Makes about 3 cups of edamame dip and roughly 64 pita chips.
Private Chef Chronicles: Summering in the Hamptons (Part 3!)
Well, oy.
The thing about private cheffing is, at least in my experience, it involves food. I mean, SO. MUCH. FOOD.
See?
banana toffee cupcakes
oreo cupcakes
oven-roasted bbq babyback ribs
blueberry frangipane tart
the makings of a damn good egg salad
peanut butter and jam cookies
blueberry muffin
strawberry short cake
salad with shaved radishes, fried shallots and carrot-ginger dressing
blueberry banana cake
red velvet cupcakes
with vanilla-mascarpone frosting
carrot mint salad with lemon vinaigrette
tomato and mozzerella salad… for 30
various forms of chocolate-dippery. diptitude.
cobb salad
paella
apricot cherry cream sconesYeah. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Some days, I feel like I’m simultaneously running a bakeshop, a 24-hour diner and a full-service catering company. Last weekend I cooked for a party of 35. Luckily, my sister came to help me, (I made her slice potatoes for an hour straight – sorry, Case), because if she hadn’t come I might have curled up in a ball and melted into a puddle of tears on the kitchen floor. Instead, all 35 guests were fed (well fed, I should say), and neither Casey nor I am any worse for the wear.
I am, however, feeling just a little bit burnt out, which is probably why I’ve started experimenting with popsicles.
On my days off and in my free time (free time?! hilarious), I’ve been taking some of my favorite summer fruits and converting them into the coolest, most delicious popsicles.
So far I’ve made strawberry basil pops (yum, see above), cherry wine pops (used too much wine, oops), honeydew lime pops (mouth-puckering and zippy) and, my favorite, whiskeyed peach pops.
To me, the peach popsicles taste the most like summer.
When I was a kid on summer vacation, my mom’s dad, Grandpa Arnie (PopPop), used to make us sweet, frosty drinks with fresh peaches, crushed ice and, in true Arnie fashion, lots of alcohol. (For the adults, I mean. Mostly. ). PopPop didn’t spend much time in the kitchen (the closest he really got was the porch right outside the kitchen, where he stood his post as family rib-barbecuing afficionado), so these were a real treat. PopPop was a big time golfer and liked to spend most of his time outside, usually fixing things. He once held his breath so long fixing the drain at the bottom of the pool I thought he’d drowned – as I leaned over to see if the drain had swallowed him up, he popped up from the bottom and, grinning, spit a mouthful of pool water at me.
PopPop’s not around anymore, but these popsicles remind me of him. So, naturally, I think they’re the best.
Whiskeyed Peach Popsicles (PopPop Pops)
Ingredients:
Directions:
First, make a ginger simple syrup: Combine the water, sugar, and ginger in a small pot over a high flame. Once the mixture boils, turn off the heat and let the ginger steep in the cooling syrup for a half hour. Strain the ginger from the syrup and place the syrup in the fridge to cool. (Note: if possible, do this step ahead of time – it really speeds up the popsicle-making process. Simple syrup will last weeks in the refrigerator).
Cut the peaches, working around the pit, into wedges (no need for nice, even pieces… if the peaches start to fall apart, that’s fine). Then, peel the skin from each wedge. (If this is too difficult because the peaches are too ripe, don’t worry about it. A bit of peach skin never hurt anyone. Or any popsicles, for that matter.)
Put the peach pieces into a food processor with the yogurt, lemon juice, whiskey, and about 3/4 cup of simple syrup (more if the peaches are under ripe, less if they’re super sweet). Pulse until well-mixed.
Pour the mixture into small plastic cups (I used 3 ounce plastic solo cups. It’s nice to know that solo cups have a place in my life, even after college.) and put the cups in the freezer to chill. After an hour of chilling time, stick one popsicle stick into each cup, and put the cups back in the freezer. Let the popsicles chill overnight to fully harden. When you want to eat one, run the plastic cup under a bit of hot water to loosen popsicle, and the pop should twist right out. Enjoy with good weather and a bunch of free time.
Makes about 15 small (3-ounce) popsicles.
I have a list. I think a lot of people do, actually. It’s a list of things that, with very little persuasion, I could eat exclusively for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. Cheese, for example. Bread. (Grilled cheese, of course, goes without saying.) Guacamole. Reese’s peanut butter cups.
Once, when I was a kid, I hid all of the peanut butter cups I’d collected from Halloween in a desk drawer in our living room, because, you know, they’d be safe there. I tried to ration them – one peanut butter cup a day… well no more than two, at least – so I’d have enough to be stuffed with chocolate and peanut butter for a full calendar year. I must not have realized that there are 365 days in a year, because I probably only had about 25 peanut butter cups. Which is actually a lot of peanut butter cups, but, as you may have guessed, not quite enough to last you (or me, in this particular case) a whole year. Especially if your dad, who also happens to love peanut butter cups, finds your hiding place. Oh well. At least my mother kept the fridge stocked with cheese.
This week at school we made cheese. Real cheese! And it didn’t even involve live cultures or mold or anything. Apparently with ricotta, all you need is milk, citric acid, and salt;
and, for mozzerella, just some salt and a big hunk of cheese curd. See?
There’s Nadine, working and stretching some curd for mozzerella. Little Miss Muffet would be proud.
We also did a full cheese tasting (complete with pieces of warm baguette from the bread kitchens), during which I discovered my appreciation for sheep’s milk,
and we made pasta (fresh gnocchi and ravioli), which I bet is on lots of people’s “food I’d eat exclusively” list. Probably lots of Italian people, anyway.
All in all, it was a good week at chef school. Cheese? Check. Bread? Check. Peanut butter cups? Working on it. Guacamole? Well, no. I’m not sure that’s covered at the French Culinary Institute. Luckily, I already know how to make it.
Basil Peach Guacamole
I don’t usually mess with the solid foundation of guacamole – avocado, onion, tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice – but sometimes I get curious. Like last weekend, when my aunt Marie and uncle Brad made fish tacos. I was put in charge of making guacamole, and when I saw a ripe, red tomato resting against a fuzzy yellow peach, I decided that they looked too nice together to be split up. I chopped the peach right up with the avocado and tomato and, on a whim, threw in a mess of fresh, chopped basil instead of cilantro. The result? Holy fish tacos – unbelievable.
Note: It’s best to make this in the summer months, when peaches, tomatoes and basil are readily available.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Cut the avocados in half lengthwise, working around the pit. Remove the large pit carefully, and scoop the avocado flesh out of the skin and into a large bowl (I find it easiest to use a spoon to scrape the flesh from the avocado skin). Mash gently with a fork, until the avocados are good and smashed but not completely smooth in texture.
Add the chopped tomato, onion, and peach, mixing to combine. Add the lime juice and basil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with tacos or chips, or smear on slices of bread to liven up a ho-hum turkey sandwich.
Makes about 3-4 cups of guacamole.
When you’re a little nervous, there’s something relaxing about the rhythmic motion of stirring, and the smell of warm peanut butter and toasted oats wafting through the kitchen. Tomorrow is my first day of school, and I’m a little nervous. My uniform is laid out – chef’s coat, checked pants, neckerchief, apron, hat, side towel, black leather shoes. I’ve gone over chapter one in the big binder, learned words like épluchage and a l’étuvée, packed my notecards and pencils and pens. And I’ve mixed a big batch of homemade granola.
More specifically, this afternoon I mixed up a big batch of my Aunt Marie’s homemade granola. Even if you’re not a little nervous, I suggest you make some yourself. It’s crunchy and healthy and naturally sweet, and it was made to be scooped over greek yogurt with fruit and honey, or tumbled over a bowl of creamy vanilla ice cream. All you have to do is stir and bake and cool, and voila – toasty granola, calm nerves, happy tummy. And, hopefully, a good first week of chef school…
Aunt Marie’s Healthy Homemade Granola
There are no real set quantities for this recipe – basically, you’ll need enough raw oats to cover the bottoms of two 9×13 metal baking dishes, and enough of everything else to sprinkle liberally on top. If you’re particularly fond of a certain ingredient, go ahead and pile it on. If you’re not so fond of another, skip it (I won’t tell my Aunt Marie, even though she does know what she’s talking about. She just wrote a book, for goodness sake! Check it out here.). Just enjoy the sprinkling and stirring, and the wonderful smell of sweet, toasty nuts and grains. This makes a lot of granola, so feel free to half the recipe, but it also freezes beautifully, so don’t be shy about making the whole batch.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Spread a thick layer of raw oats onto the bottom of two baking dishes (9×13), then sprinkle plenty of flax seed, wheat bran, coconut, almonds, and seedson top of the oats (roughly a handful or so of each), and stir until the oat layer is flecked through.
Mix the canola oil, peanut butter, honey and cinnamon in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on high for about 1 minute until warm and blended. Divide the warm peanut butter mixture between the two pans and stir well into the dry ingredients.
Bake the mixture in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until toasty and golden. Cool granola thoroughly before storing indefinitely in the freezer.
Makes about 6-8 cups of granola.
