Braisin' Hussy

2009-12-27T09:57:00.000-08:00

Gingery Maple Cookies
badly cribbed from Cook's Country

1 1/2 cup AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 stick butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp maple extract
3 Tbsp minced crystallized ginger
1/4 cup white sugar

Heat oven to 350.

Cream the butter and brown sugar. Mix in the egg, maple syrup, and maple extract. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, and crystallized ginger and mix to combine. Place the white sugar in a bowl. Roll the dough in 1-inch balls, then toss with the sugar to coat. Place on baking sheet, then flatten with a drinking glass (I apparently forgot to copy down this step- mine turned out puffy instead of flat). Bake for 10-12 minutes.

2009-12-27T09:54:00.000-08:00

New & Improved Spiced Nuts

1 lb nuts (I used almonds, pecans, cashews, and walnuts)
1 egg white
1 Tbsp apple cider (I used Trader Joe's spiced cider)
1 tsp table salt

1/2 cup white sugar
1.5 Tbsp black pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp nutmeg

butter or cooking spray, to prepare the pan

Heat oven to 300. Prepare a sheet pan with a bit of butter or cooking spray. (I used a smallish nonstick roasting pan.)

Whisk together the egg white, apple cider, and salt. Mix in the nuts and stir to coat thoroughly. Drain in a colander for 5 minutes. Combine the sugar and spices and mix with the drained nuts. Spread in pan. Roast for 45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Let cool and break apart any clumped together nuts.

2009-12-16T08:40:00.000-08:00

I made four pounds of spiced nuts last night during D&D for our company holiday potluck. It turned out that four pounds is more than I thought. I had them in a large Pyrex bowl, but it was overflowing. So I grabbed my big ol' cast iron French oven (not a Dutch oven, heavens no, Le Creuset wouldn't want to sully their name so) and mixed them up in there. I used a pound each of pecans, almonds, cashews, and walnuts. It's basically the Peppered Pecans recipe made without the butter, and using the "coat in egg white and liquid then drain for five minutes before baking" method I got from the Orange-Cardamom Spiced Nuts. So they're very crunchy, which was the only problem I had with the Pecans recipe.

The party is tomorrow. My coworkers better like them!

2009-11-26T22:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a killer meal. Dad made a kosher turkey for the first time. We've brined birds before, but my folks aren't keen on the texture (I think they're nuts, but whatever). My dad was annoyed at the amount of feathers he had to pull out, but after butterflying it and stuffing a bunch of heavily herbed butter under the skin, we all agreed that it was the most delicious turkey we had eaten. I think we may continue with kosher birds in the future.

I made the chipotle-maple sweet potatoes. I need to revise this recipe. I made it with less cream this time, and I think it turned out for the better. Mom made Death By Broccoli; she cubed the cheese instead of shredding it-easier! She also made crazy delicious creamed onions, mashed potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. I should post the recipe for those onions. They're from Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home, except Mom roasted the onions first, instead of parboiling them. The roasting added a incredible layer of flavor. Delicious Maillard reaction!

Jon brought green bean casserole (using a Cook's Illustrated recipe), and Ryan brought cranberry sauce and both pumpkin and apple-cranberry pies. I had half a slice of the apple-cranberry. I wanted to eat more but I was too stuffed!

Mom also made rutabagas and butternut squash, but I didn't partake. Same goes for Dad's gravy. I'm just not super-big on gravy; the turkey was juicy enough without it (plus I was using the cream from the onions on everything, it was so good).

How was your Turkey Day?

2009-11-24T12:42:00.000-08:00

I made these for Lydia's birthday, because girl loves cardamom. Unfortunately, they're not super-cardamom-y. The orange flavor kind of overwhelms them.

2009-11-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

Orange-Cardamom Spiced Nuts

Cribbed badly from Cook's Country

1 egg white

1 Tbsp orange juice

1 Tbsp orange zest

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 lb nuts (almonds or pistachios work best)

Heat your oven to 300. Coat a large baking sheet with nonstick spray. Whisk together the egg white, juice, zest, vanilla, and salt. Coat the nuts in the mixture, then drain in a colander for 5 minutes. Combine the sugar, cardamom, and pepper. Toss with the nuts, then spread on the baking sheet. Bake 45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Cool, continuing to stir every 15-3o minutes. They'll probably be sticking together and need to be broken apart once cool.

2009-11-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

My roommate Mark was making chili for a potluck, and bought masses of blue cheese. He only ended up using half of what he bought, so I was trying to find ways to use the rest of it. (There are still three 8-ounce containers in our fridge.) I sort of made this up on the fly, I guess? It's pretty tasty, but SUPER-RICH.

Any ideas on what I can do with the rest?

2009-11-09T19:25:00.000-08:00

Pasta with Chipotle-Blue Cheese Sauce

1/4 onion, chopped fine
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp AP flour
1 cup milk
salt
pinch ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground chipotle pepper (more if you like)
6 oz. blue cheese
6 oz. some kind of shapey pasta (two servings-ish)

Cook pasta. While water is coming to a boil and pasta is cooking, make the sauce.

Melt the butter and oil together over medium-high heat. Add the onion and some salt. Cook, stirring fairly constantly, until the onion browns a bit. Add the flour and stir constantly until the flour melts and the whole thing turns a medium brownish. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly (at this point, if you're me, you also nearly steam-burn yourself). Lower the heat to medium and bring back up to a boil, still stirring constantly. Add the chipotle and nutmeg. As the sauce thickens, add the blue cheese and stir until integrated. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Keep over extremely low heat while the pasta finishes cooking. Drain pasta and stir into sauce. Serve immediately (heated bowls would be best to keep the sauce at its best).

2009-10-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

Last month, I went to my friend Cristina's birthday party at the Crown & Crumpet tea room in San Francisco. Had a great time, even if I misread the invitation, arrived two hours early, and was subsequently killed by the cost of parking. It's a really cute establishment, and the tea service was lovely.

Read Cristina's review here!

2009-10-14T13:34:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I gave this cookie recipe a shot. It did not work. At all.

2009-09-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

I threw a handful of baby spinach into my Rather Boring Pantry Pasta at the very end and wilted it. It was highly tasty.

I have added it to the recipe variations.

There is a very good, very easy recipe in this blog post, if you are as fond of garbanzo beans as I am.

2009-09-15T08:47:00.001-07:00

Caprese Salad with Garbanzos

last night's dinner

1 15-oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

Juice of 1 lemon

1 Tbsp olive oil

6 small tomatoes, quartered (a handful of halved cherry tomatoes would work well)

1 mozzarella bocconcini, chopped (probably 2 oz.)

Basil chiffonade

Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix together and nom. I didn't have any bread, unfortunately. That would have been good.

2009-09-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

Better Artichoke Dip

better than this one, I mean

2 15-oz. cans of artichoke hearts (not marinated!), drained and rinsed

8 oz. sour cream

1/3 cup mayonnaise (light is fine for the mayo and sour cream)

1/3 cup shredded parmesan, plus extra for topping

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1 clove garlic, minced

Zest of 1 lemon

Pinch of cayenne pepper (heavy pinch if you're me)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 350. Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine (about ten times). Empty into an ovenproof 8x8 casserole. Top with parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered for about half an hour, or until top is brown. (I got impatient and turned on the broiler after about twenty minutes.)

2009-06-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

Well, since my last post, I started a job, hated a job, and ended a job. June was a busy month. I haven't really been cooking much, apart from the occasional Rather Boring Pantry Pasta. I made a scrambled egg on toast this morning. That was delicious. I don't eat enough breakfast. Looking at the front page of the blog, I kind of want to make the Smoked Ham Hocks and Cranberry Beans again. It's not really a summer dish, though.

I biked 15 miles yesterday. I feel good about that.

2009-05-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

I had an interview in Menlo Park this morning (it went okay), and afterward I took the opportunity (since I'm not often in Menlo these days) to check out the new Penzey's Spices store that opened last year. It was pretty sweet! I had a coupon for a free jar of ground black pepper, which I used mostly to get a free spice jar. I figure I'll use what I can over the next month or two, pitch the rest, and then fill it up with something else. I have many spices sitting in plastic bags.

Ryan and Jon bought me a jar of Mexican vanilla extract from Penzey's a few years ago. It was, bar none, the best vanilla I've ever tasted/smelled/used. They stopped carrying it a while back, I guess because the crop had shrunk or something. So I was all a-woe and went back to Madagascar/Tahitian vanilla. BUT! Apparently, although they don't say they carry it in their catalogs or on their website, they DO have it in their physical stores! I was so incredibly excited to see it (almost as much as that time I was at Baja Fresh and they had switched from Pepsi to Coke products). So I ended up buying the Mexican vanilla, some chili powder, the Pasta Sprinkle I like, and the free pepper.

The store's really cute, too. Go visit!

2009-05-07T10:47:00.001-07:00

I was making some tomato sauce a few weeks ago, and I needed some red wine. Looking through our wine... document box, I discovered that ALL our wine is incredibly old (for a household of people who don't really care about that sort of thing). I used the newest bottle, which was a 2003 Ridge California Zinfandel York Creek. I only needed about a half cup for the sauce. The rest of the bottle was quite delicious.

My folks were over on Tuesday, and I told them about our old wines. I pulled out the oldest one, which was a 1997 Robert Mondavi Chardonnay. My mom boggled and told me I shouldn't keep white wines that long, and that it'd be a miracle if it hadn't turned to vinegar by this point. (A miracle it would be indeed, because we have never kept our wines properly [as evidenced by the document box storage]. Hell, we kept them out in the garage back in the old house, where they were subjected to a rather large swing of temperature.) But it wasn't vinegar! It was still pretty tasty! And I'm not really a fan of white wines.

So I thought I'd make a list of the wines we have. I don't know if any of these are good- I'm pretty sure most of them are gifts that we just never opened. A rather surprising amount of dessert wines.

1997 Monastero di Coriano Vin Santo - this was a gift from my parents
1999 Benziger McNab Ranch Merlot - this was probably a gift from my parents, since they know I like merlot
2000 Robert Mondavi Moscato d'Oro - pretty sure both the Mondavi bottles we had were inherited from Jeremy, who gave us all his wine&booze once he was tired of moving all the bottles around
2000 Beringer Gamay Beaujolais
2001 Beaulieu Vineyard BV Coastal Signature Series Merlot - once again, pretty sure this was a gift to me
2001 Victor Hugo Petite Sirah
2001 Byington Alliage Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon
2003 Schmitt Sohne Riesling
2005 Bonny Doon Moscato d'Asti
2006 Imagery Petite Syrah Port - birthday present this year from my parents, it's delicious with really dark chocolate

2009-04-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

Parsley Salad

Zest of 1 large lemon
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 small shallot, minced
1 tsp honey
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 Tbsp sesame oil
6 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 bunches Italian parsley, leaves only
3 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Whisk first 8 ingredients together in a large bowl. Add parsley and toss to combine. Sprinkle sesame seeds over top. Chill for 1-4 hours.

2009-04-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

Rather Boring Pantry Pasta

This is a photo of the variation using the vinaigrette.

I fail at my resolution to post once a month. March was a bad month all around, really. Lost my job. My credit card number was stolen. Exploded my computer. Good damn times.

D:<

2009-02-14T16:28:00.000-08:00

Smoked Ham Hocks and Cranberry Beans

(om nom nom)

2009-02-12T16:52:00.001-08:00

Rather Boring Pantry Pasta

3-4 oz. some kind of pasta (I prefer shapes)
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes (diced jalapeno pepper is also good if you're out)
~6 pieces of salami or pepperoni, quartered or sixthed
1/4 onion/2-3 green onions/1-2 shallots, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp assorted dried herbs- parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, etc. (Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle is nice)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese (optional- I have occasionally used shredded cheddar cheese)

Bring water to a boil and cook pasta. While this is going on, prep the rest of the ingredients. Drain the pasta and leave in the colander while you make the sauce. (I use the same pot I used to boil the pasta- it's only like 2 quarts, so it's not really a pain to clean.) Put the pot/pan over medium-high heat and add the oil and red pepper flakes. Stir/swirl around for about a minute. Add the salami/pepperoni and cook another minute. Add onion and stir until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Toss in the herbs. Add the cooked pasta back to the pan and toss to combine. Turn off heat, taste for seasoning and adjust with salt/pepper. Empty into bowl and add cheese.

Variations
3-4 Tbsp of toasted nuts can be added when you put in the herbs. They can be used in place of the salami/pepperoni if you're a vegetarian.
2-3 Tbsp vinaigrette. I'll do this if I have leftover salad dressing. I added it instead of the dried herbs. Dump it in and let it reduce a little.

A handful or two of baby spinach. Toss this in when you combine the pasta and sauce at the end and stir until it wilts.

2009-02-12T16:18:00.000-08:00

Slightly More Interesting But Still Rather Boring Pasta

3-4 oz. pasta
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4-1/2 cup white wine (just finishing up a bottle, don't really know how much was in there)
2-3 Tbsp herbed cheese spread (some Boursin I had leftover after a party)
2 Tbsp cream or milk
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese

Boil water and cook pasta. Drain and keep in the colander while preparing sauce. Melt the butter with the oil, add red pepper flakes and onion, cook until soft. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add white wine and turn heat to high. Reduce to 2-3 Tbsp. Off heat, add cheese spread and cream and stir to melt/integrate into the sauce. Add pasta back to pan and stir to combine. Adjust seasoning, dump into bowl and serve with parmesan.

2009-02-02T09:31:00.001-08:00

I took a picture of this dish, which I'll post when I get home. Delicious, although I'm not very good at dismantling ham hocks. If you cook the time-intensive beans, ham hocks, and onions in tandem, you can have this dish done in a morning. I overbrowned the onions a bit, but all that really did was make them more delicious. I did have to up the salt in the dish to compensate for their resulting sweetness.

2009-02-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

Smoked Ham Hocks & Cranberry Beans
San Francisco Chronicle

1 lb dried cranberry beans, or other white bean like cannellinis
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh savory + 1 tablespoon minced
2 tsp kosher salt
2-3 lbs smoked ham hocks
1.5 cups Onion Confit (see recipe below)
5 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme

In a large saucepan, combine the beans, 8 cups water, bay leaf and sprigs of savory. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the beans are just becoming tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add salt and continue to simmer beans until tender, adding more water if necessary, 1 to 1 1/2 additional hours. Set aside to cool in the cooking liquid. (You should have at least 3 cups of cooking liquid.)

In a large saucepan, cover the ham hocks with cold water by 3 inches. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the meat is nearly falling from the bone, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove the hocks, and when cool enough to handle, remove the meat and skin. Tear or cut the meat into bite-size or larger pieces. Mince enough of the skin to make 3 tablespoons. Set aside. Discard the bones and save the remaining skin for another use.

In a Dutch oven (or similarly sized vessel) heat 1/4 cup of the Onion Confit over medium heat until it is soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste, pepper and about 1 cup of the bean cooking liquid. Stir, blending the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium, and add the beans, another 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid, the meat and minced skin, the thyme, minced savory, and salt and pepper to taste, and the remaining Onion Confit. Fold together with a wooden spoon, being careful not to mash the beans. Simmer until thickened and hot, about 10 minutes.

Serve alone or over rice.

2009-02-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

Onion Confit
San Francisco Chronicle

Makes about 4 cups- more than double the amount needed for the ham hocks. Halve, or use the extra to garnish pretty much any savory dish.

4 Tbsp butter
4 pounds yellow or red onion, cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick (about 7 cups)
2 fresh or dried bay leaves
2 Tbsp fresh thyme
1 Tbsp chopped fresh savory
1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Heat oven to 400.

Cut the butter into several chunks and put on a large baking sheet or roasting pan. Place in the oven to melt, 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and spread the onions on it. The layer of onions should be about 1 inch deep. If the layer is too thin, the onions will fry. Tuck the bay leaves into the onions, then sprinkle the onions with thyme, savory and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil evenly over the top.

Put the baking sheet in the oven and cook the onions, stirring every 10 or 15 minutes, until they have turned a light golden brown and have reduced in volume by nearly half, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Remove from the oven and let cool. Transfer to 1 or more clean, dry jars and cover tightly. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

2009-01-07T11:48:00.000-08:00

Butter Thin Cookies
Penzey's Spices

1 stick butter
2/3 Cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
pecan halves or candied cherry halves, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla together. Add the egg and beat until the batter is light and fluffy. Gently mix in the flour, salt, and baking powder to make a soft dough. Drop by the scant (barely full) teaspoon, 2 inches apart, on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for about 8 minutes at 350. Remove the cookies right away, or they will stick. If desired, top with pecan halves or candied cherries immediately after removing the cookies from the pan.

Tips:
Make sure to leave enough space between cookies, as they spread a lot. If your oven racks are not perfectly level, the cookies will end up in all sorts of bizarre shapes. (I had to use a wad of foil to get my cookie sheets level.) Use a thin, flexible spatula to remove the cookies from the pans, as they do not rise much and can be a tad difficult to remove from the pan. Using parchment paper and/or a cookie sheet that has no rim makes it easier.