Thanksgiving

My father hates cooking during the holidays because he can't stand turkey.  I don't have the same issue, and even buy turkey for normal meals during the year.

This year we've gotten a 10 lb turkey breast, since most of the folks we'll be feeding don't care for dark meat.

Currently the menu is as follows:

• Roast turkey seared over hardwood charcoal
• Chorizo cornbread stuffing
• Cauliflower gratin
• Garlic whipped Yukon gold potatoes
• Cranberry sauce
• Pumpkin ale bread
• Chocolate pecan pie
• Pumpkin struesel pie

This will be the first holiday where I have not served hollandaise sauce with broccoli.  But I'm trying to develop my own holiday traditions while still incorporating my family favorites.  Hopefully photos will be posted Friday.

PSA concerning bacon

Whole Foods Market sells a phenomenal bacon.  It's made with a black forest dry rub, and it's by far the Kobe beef of bacon, in my opinion.

I plan to make some muffins with it.  I will try to snap some photos of it next time I have the camera with me in the kitchen.

That is all, move along.

Menu for Tea

I am remarkably fond of tea. No, I'm not just talking about the tasty drink made from dried leaves...I'm referring to the practice of serving it with a meal mid afternoon.

I first experienced afternoon tea while traveling with my family. I don't remember the details, but my father is fond of telling the story of how quickly I took to the concept. A practical meal in the middle of the day?! what a wonderful idea to my stomach-oriented mind.

When my family visited some very dear friends outside of Bath, England while I was a teenager, I got to experience tea from a different point of view. Tea was a snack after school because dinner would not be until 8PM or perhaps later. It could be sandwiches, leftovers from the night before...but I've always loved high tea. High tea is different from afternoon tea in the hours in which it is served, though in America high tea is used to describe any tea meal served between 3 and 6PM. In Britain the two are very different and refer to both the time of day the meal is served and the components used in the meal itself. For more information, read about tea on wikipedia.

Recently I started trying to make high tea once a week. I started with a very basic menu - scones with jam and devon cream; egg and olive tea sandwiches; and chocolate truffles. I was lazy, and purchased the truffles from the Whole Foods Market - they are, however, completely organic and incredibly tasty.

The meal turned out perfectly. Here are all the recipes you'll need to make your own high tea.

Cream Scones

Ingredients

• 2 c unbleached organic flour
• 1/4 c turbinado sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 c cold unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Blend sugar in food processor until finely ground. Add flour, baking powder and salt, pulse to combine.
   
3. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.
   
4. In a small measuring cup combine the whipping cream, beaten egg and vanilla. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Blend until just combined, dough will be slightly crumbly. Do not over mix.
5. Knead dough gently on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat the dough into a circle that is about 1/4 inch thick. Then, using a round cookie cutter, cut the dough into rounds.
   
6. Place the rounds on a cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream. This helps to brown the tops of the scones during baking.
7. Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve with Devon cream or softly whipped cream and your favorite jam.

Ghetto-style Devon Cream
I've named this recipe thus because it's not authentic in any way, but it sure does taste dead on to it's namesake. This is like a cross between cream cheese and sweet butter. It's ultra thick and rich, and super tasty with jam.

Ingredients

• 1 c heavy whipping cream
• 4 oz neufchatel cheese (my favorite personally, but marscapone is also a good substitute)
• 2 tbsp confectioner's sugar (aka powdered sugar)

Directions

1. Put all ingredients in a bowl and whip until thick. I use a hand blender for this, though a kitchenaid mixer with a whisk attachment would work as well.

No one ever said that was the hard part...

Egg and Olive Tea Sandwiches
With these you can really do anything you want as filling. I chose egg and olive because it's a personal favorite of my roommates, as well as an old family recipe passed down to me from my late paternal grandmother. The filling can be made a day in advance, though I tend to prefer making it the day of and simply prepping my eggs and olives in advance.

Ingredients

• 1 loaf sandwich bread (your choice, I like to use sourdough or another white bread)
• 1 hardboiled egg per person (if you're not sure, you can always make extra and just have them as a snack)
• 1/4 - 1/2 c mayonnaise
• 1 - 1 1/2 c green olives
• 1/4 tsp fresh dill (optional)
  
• salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Dice hardboiled eggs into small cubes. (can be done in advance)
2. Slice olives thin and combine with diced egg.
3. Add mayonnaise, dill, salt and pepper and fold carefully, eggs are fragile.
4. Slice crusts from sandwich bread then slice diagonally across the bread (making small triangles). Fill with egg and olive mixture and serve!

It may seem like a lot of work...and it is...but much of it can be done in advance, including cutting the bread, eggs and olives. I use a pre-made mayonnaise called Lemonnaise that I get from the Whole Foods Market. It's incredibly tasty and is nothing like the disgusting stuff you find in some grocery stores. If you don't like eggs and olives, you can do simple ham and cheese with a dollop of mustard between the meat and cheese to keep your bread from going soggy...or any variation therein that you want to try.

Chicken Curry Pasta

We had Chicken Curry Pasta last night as planned. Unfortunately, it was so good that I forgot to take pictures of it before scarfing down the entire plate. So you'll just have to imagine, if you can, how incredibly good chicken curry masala is when served over wheat pasta. Mmmm...

Cookies

Well, I have discovered that dark chocolate chunk cookies make the best gifts. Only people that can't eat chocolate don't like them, and even they want to try them.

I will forever stand by my standard recipe, as follows.

Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 c whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 10 tbsp butter (softened)
• 1/2 c light brown sugar
• 1/2 c dark brown sugar
  
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 oz dark chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Combine flours, baking soda and salt in bowl, set aside
3. In stand mixer cream together butter and sugars, about 4 minutes
4. Stir in egg, making sure it is well combined
5. Add flour mixture, mix well
6. Stir in vanilla, then fold in chocolate
7. Place rounded tablespoons of dough on an ungreased baking sheet, making sure there is room for the cookies to expand.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until bottoms are slightly brown.

Makes 24-32 cookies, depending on size.

Notes
Break up the chocolate if you are using bar chocolate. I recommend dark chocolate chunks from Whole Foods Market, if you can find them in your local area. Otherwise, just break up the chocolate by hand, or with a mallet.
You don't have to use two types of flour, but I like the consistency and texture that you get from a little bit of whole wheat flour.

Long time, no see

Well, it's been a while. Long story short, there's been some writer and cooking block. This is not to say that I have not been cooking, just that I haven't felt like putting it into words.

Lately I have been working on some ideas for a restaurant of some persuasion. I haven't gotten beyond the nebulous "I have several ideas". This blog has received a facelift, to match my new look too. It's going to become my sounding block for different culinary ideas, as well as a place to test out the recipes I develop. Who knows, maybe some day I'll make it big.

So, bare bones ideas.

• Good food, good price, good atmosphere
• New takes on old favorites (chocolate chip cookie creme brulee)
• Sustainable, renewable sources for food and energy
• Organic, healthy treats that still leave you satisfied

So, lots of things to focus on - including a dish I didn't develop myself, but helped with. I like to call it Chicken Curry Pasta - it's a cream-based pasta sauce made with Garam Masala curry powder and served with organic whole wheat pasta (trust me, the wheat texture blends perfectly with the sauce in a way bleached pasta could not). Maybe some garlic naan bread with it to give it an Indian touch with a hint of Italian influence. Keep your attention here, because there will be photos, a recipe, and a description all coming soon.

Pie, part one

I made a pie earlier. I'm still not too happy with the amount of filling it produces, so I'm considering how to scale up the recipe. It tastes fine, it just is less than I wanted in the pie. *sigh* That's what I get for being a perfectionist, I suppose.

Expect photos with the recipe later...probably tomorrow. I've been horribly sick lately so I haven't really had time to cook or update. Bad Kitteh.

what to make...

I just had a trip to the Fresh Market here in Louisville, and now my kitchen is fully stocked again. But unfortunately, I don't know what I'm going to make. I have everything save one ingredient necessary for a cheesecake...which I will make eventually because a friend asked for one for a birthday gift. I'm consider white chocolate with strawberry sauce. Mmm...cheesecake.

I also need to start working on yeast breads. I've been slowing down on them lately mostly because they're so damn much work most of the time. However, I have gotten some pretty incredible tips from some magazines I picked up, and I really should try them.

List of things to make:

• white chocolate cheesecake
• key lime pie (I just bought some edible flowers I'm going to use to decorate this...it will be awesome)
• strawberry shortcake
• ciabatta
• brioche
• challah
• chicken sausage muffins with spicy sausage and mozzarella
  
• cinnamon rolls

Wow...I have a very ambitious list. Unfortunately as well most of those are not particularly healthy. Though I believe my muffins are as a meal. I need to figure out a way to incorporate in some veggies to make them a viable option for a meal. Perhaps some diced mushrooms or onions would work.

Banana Bread

Oh do I love banana bread...I also love banana pancakes, which is a lovely treat if you happen to have bananas around your house. This bread recipe was originally for muffins. I decided to test it as a bread recipe and it worked out great with a doubling of the cook time.

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup white whole wheat flour (note, you can use all whole wheat, all white whole wheat, whichever you prefer)
• 4-7 ripe bananas, mashed and separated
  
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup apple juice, milk or water (whatever you have available)
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Lightly grease baking pan/s then set aside
3. Mash one to two bananas depending on how many you have access to
   
4. Using a whisk attachment beat together sugars, eggs and butter, scrap bowl then add in mashed banana and whisk for approximately three minutes
   
5. Combine dry ingredients, sift and set aside
6. Add vanilla to butter mixture and scrape the bowl thoroughly
7. Stir in dry ingredients alternating half of the flour mixture, then the 1/3 cup liquid, then the remainder of the dry mixture
8. Stir in remaining mashed bananas, pour mixture into pans
9. Bake for 40-60 minutes depending on size of bread pans (Muffins go for approximately 25)
10. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before removing bread from the pan and placing it on wire rack to finish cooling.

Notes

I used Simply Apple brand juice for my recipe, because I didn't want to add in any extra ingredients that are in other juices. You can also toast some walnuts and chop them and mix it into the batter when you add in the bananas the second time for banana nut bread. Whisking in some of the banana with the butter helps to really work the flavor into every aspect of the bread...this makes a wonderful breakfast bread or a tasty snack during the day. In moderation it probably isn't TOO bad for you...since it uses the wheat flour you get to keep the protein from the wheat germ and things, so I believe it balances itself fairly well. Like I said, it makes a good meal, or a small pick me up during the day. There is a lot of butter, which can probably be substituted for some apple sauce...another experiment that I will start on soon.

Dinner tangent

Mmmm, dinner. Last night we had steak, baked potatoes and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. Interestingly, the spell check built into my browser does not recognize "hollandaise" as a word. This insult must be addressed...

Anyway, back on track. I wanted to share my family's recipe for hollandaise. In my opinion it is one of the best recipes I've ever had the opportunity to consume...and trust me, I've eaten it all over the world. The closest I've come to ranking near my dad's recipe came from a small eatery in Little Rock, Arkansas called the Olive Branch. It used to be located in the River Market downtown in the city. I'm not sure if it's still there, but they made an incredible breakfast sandwich.

Onward, ever onward. My recipe for hollandaise uses a blender. In some traditions the only good hollandaise is prepared over a double boiler as you whisk until your arm falls off. Save a microwave, I strongly advocate the use of electronic devices in your kitchen. I say with the exception of a microwave due in no small part to the fact that mine sits on the floor of my kitchen in a corner...because last time I tried to use it I think that it tried to light itself on fire. Bad microwave, no biscuit.

My dad is quite possible the world's greatest unpaid chef. This is a man that was accepted at Le Cordon Bleu and chose not to attend for a number of very good reasons, life being the primary one. I'm not saying that everything that comes out of his kitchen is perfect, but he's definitely had a few years over me to perfect some incredible food. I owe him my love of food, my interest in new things, and my adoration for hollandaise sauce.

Hollandaise Sauce, Ray style:

Ingredients

• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (add more to taste)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (add more to taste)
• pinch of sugar

Directions

1. Place egg yolks, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, salt and pinch (very small) of sugar in blender.
2. Pulse blender for a couple of seconds, just enough to mix the ingredients.
3. In a saucepan melt the butter, being careful that it does not burn.
4. When butter "speaks" pour it into the blender while simultaneously holding down the blend button.
5. As soon as butter is fully poured stop blending.
   

Ideally the sauce should be slightly thick, rich and creamy. If your sauce is too runny simply blend it a bit more. If it's too thick...well, you can add more lemon juice or just serve it thick...that's what I do. If for some reason the sauce didn't come together...well, I'm not sure why it does that sometimes. The sugar is used to keep the eggs from separating, so I rarely have a sauce now that doesn't come together as long as I remember to put in that pinch of sugar.

This hollandaise is excellent for eggs Benedict, as a dipping sauce for artichokes, topping broccoli or asparagus, or even over steak. I think that hollandaise could possible go with almost everything...or so my stomach tells me.

Whole Wheat Beer Bread

I had a craving for bread today while I was cleaning the kitchen, and since that happened around 2PM, I didn't really have the time or energy to make a yeast bread from scratch. Instead, I planned to use some of the lovely Canadian cream ale I picked up on my trip north with a bit of maple syrup instead of sugar to craft a beer bread. Mmm...Canadian beer bread. This recipe calls for pouring butter over the batter before you bake it, which gives the crust a delicious buttery flavor as it cooks.

What follows is my experiment with said bread:



Ingredients

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour plus 1 cup organic unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  
• 1 1/4 cup beer
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Sift together dry ingredients, set aside
3. Lightly grease and flour loaf pans (I used two 5x3 bread loaf pans)
4. Combine dry ingredients with beer and maple syrup, mix thoroughly
   
5. Pour batter into pans, pour melted butter over mixture
6. Bake for 1 hour
   
7. Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack for at least 15 minutes
   

Notes
Instead of using sugar (which the recipe originally called for) I used maple syrup. It turned out awesome!

Also, here's a picture of it sliced open, full of nummy goodness. Please pardon the flash on the camera, it was being cranky.

Chicken Italian Sausage and Cheddar Cheese Muffins

These came up as a lark while I was flipping through my favorite cookbook in the world, the Way I Cook by Lee Bailey. His recipe is for ham and cheese muffins with options for sausage and bacon muffins. I chose to go with what I had sitting in the fridge - Italian chicken sausage from the Fresh Market - and some cheddar cheese from the Walgreen's a block away. I also used white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour so I had to increase the amount of liquid I used from the base recipe.

So then, I present Chicken Italian Sausage and Cheddar Cheese Muffins:


Ingredients

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cup buttermilk at room temperature
• 1 egg at room temperature
  
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 8 oz chicken Italian sausage (about two links)
• 1 1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
   
2. Lightly grease a silicone muffin pan or lightly grease and flour a metal one.
   
3. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder, set aside.
   
4. Remove sausage from casing and cook in a deep saucepan. Heat until thoroughly cooked and then set aside on a plate to drain and cool.
   
5. In another bowl whisk together buttermilk, egg and oil.
6. Mix dry ingredients into egg mixture then fold in sausage and cheese.
7. Fill muffin tins and slightly round off tops of muffins.
8. Place pan in oven and reduce heat to 400 degrees. Cook for 20 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Makes 12 muffins

These muffins are made of awesome and win. I think that they would be marvelous with some sautéed onions or even some onion or garlic powder mixed into the batter. I will be experimenting further and will post the results gleefully.

Best Pizza EVAR...

While in Canada I decided to try pizza. As background, I have a deep loathing of red sauce. Mainly, I hate tomatoes, having tried them multiple times in various incarnations and other than buried as an ingredient in a meal I don't like them. So when the idea of pizza was pitched my first response was "I don't like pizza". But then it was pointed out to me that there was a Chicken Tikka Masala pizza. My ears immediately perked, for Masala is my favorite Indian food.

The pizza, from what I recall, had the following statistics:
Crust: Wheat, very fluffy and thick with a balanced flavor of not "I taste like wheat flour".
Sauce: Tikka Masala sauce...made of yummy and win.
Toppings: Cheese (Mozzarella I think), grilled strips of chicken (mesquite grilled), red onions, green chilies, roma tomatoes.

It is worth noting that we ordered the pizza without the last three toppings, but I include them for the sake of seeing how awesome this pizza was. I plan on working on pizza dough ASAP, so that I can try to recreate this delectable dinner.

Vacation

The Kitchen Kitteh and TechBear are going to Canada for a few days. This means, sadly for you, that there will be no delicious treats made for a few more days. But when we return you can look forward to more cookies, some cakes (mmm...cheesecake) and maybe my recipe for berry cobbler. So stay tuned.

Chocolate Three Chocolate Chip Cookies

First, let me begin by saying that butter is very important. Now, if you grew up in the South like I did, you know that it's not "butt-er" it's pronounced "buttah". Buttah and sugah are two of the most important food groups on the Southern Food Pyramid, you see. That's why many of my recipes use both, even though I try to eat healthful foods most of the time. But everyone deserves a treat every once in a while, especially a Kitteh that loves chocolate. But for this recipe be sure to use all the butter it calls for, unless you substitute with apple sauce. A version doing so is slated for experimentation shortly.

I made these with CookWolf's help. CookWolf helps the Kitteh when he's not gorging on the tasty treats, like this one.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
  
• 2/3 cups milk chocolate chips or chunks
  
• 2/3 cups white chocolate chips or chunks
  
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup butter, softened
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In stand mixer cream the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Anywhere from three to seven minutes, depending on your own taste. The lighter the better in my not at all humble opinion.
   
3. While mixing combine the dry ingredients and sift together thoroughly*. Stir mixture into butter concotion then fold in the various chocolates.
4. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes .
5. Let sit for about five minutes on the sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Be sure to enjoy one while they're hot and gooey. It's the best way.
   

Notes

• If you don't have a fancy flour sifter or a mesh colander or strainer, use a whisk to combine the ingredients. It works just as well, and sometimes it's faster.
• If you reduce the amount of butter from two sticks to thirteen tablespoons (one stick plus five tablespons), the dough can come out very dense. After being frozen and then thawed this dough makes wonderful cookie dough milkshakes. That is a matter for another post, however.
  

Introduction to the Intarwebs

First post, new blog. The purpose behind this is to chronicle my culinary experiments. After I perfect the recipe I'll post it here and hopefully even include some pictures.

About Me:
I am complete nutjob that manages to find some semblance of peace in cooking. The order of it appeals to my Obsessive-Compulsive side. This is my record, shared with you so that you can enjoy the trials I go through to craft glorious foods. Oh yes, there will be glory.