Some berries and cream!

Hand-whipped Cream.

1 c   heavy cream
2 tblsp    sugar
1/4 tsp    vanilla

Pre-chill bowl and whisk in the freezer.

Beat cream until soft peaks form.  Add sugar and vanilla.  Continue beating until stiffens.  Go slow so as not to make butter.

Leftovers keep in the fridge for several days (what leftovers??)

Enjoy!

Going Green

So it's been a busy bit of the year.  Lots of things going on, and unfortunately, I've spent less time in the kitchen than usual.  But it seems to be coming around.

It is the edge of Fall, and back home in New Mexico, this means it is green chile harvest time.   All the stores get piles of green chile, most from the big chile farms in Hatch, NM, and you'll see roasters all over the place.

Roasters?  Well.. yes.  You can buy chile by the bushel, and often, they will roast it for you on the spot.

But why would you roast green chile, you might ask?   Unlike many other peppers, the green chile comes with a thick waxy skin that really isn't edible, and at best is very difficult to chew.  So by roasting them quickly over high heat, the skin blisters and separates from the flesh of the pod, and you can peel it and then do what you want with it.

Fortunately for me, New Mexico Hatch green chile has become somewhat of a phenomenon in the United States, and you can find it out and about.  Whole Foods here in the Seattle area has begun carrying it fresh, and local artisans have already started taking advantage, including some delicious green chile cheddar cheese I've found.  Wonderful stuff.

So I think my next few entries will focus on this wonderful pepper and its place in my life.

Product Review: Silpat Non-Stick Silicone Baking Liner

Though my holiday baking this year left a little to be desired both in quality and quantity, one of the best parts of it was using my Silpats.  I have been drooling over these for years and finally decided they were worth the expense.

Silpats are silicone covered woven fiberglass fabric that are able to transmit heat, but also create a non-stick surface similar to coated baking parchment paper.  Almost nothing sticks, and cleaning them is a breeze.

One of my failures this year was my Palmiers, which just didn't taste the way I like them.  It is something I will continue to work through this year, and see if I can figure out where I went wrong.  But baking them presented the same problem it always does.  The sugars melt out of the cookies, and caramelize on the pans.  Left on unlined pans, it is extremely difficult to remove, and Mom's sheets were always thickly coated as a result, which ultimately destroys the sheet pans.

I've used parchment paper in the past, and it works well enough, but I really dislike the idea of using disposable things when I can help it.  Silpats resolve that problem.  They sell different sizes for different pans.  And you just lay them in the bottom, and bake as usual.  The only caveats for using them is that you can't cut on them or do anything to damage the silicone because it will release the glass fibers into your baked goods.  But they rinse off pretty easily, and even the sticky caramel from my Palmiers popped right off.

I'd highly recommend them and say they are totally worth the investment.  They don't seem to affect baking in any way, and I don't feel like I'm having to continually buy products to get the performance I want.  If you've been on the fence, go for it.  If you don't know about them, hit up your kitchen store and check them out!

Drunken Fresh Ginger Molasses Cookies

When your family decides that the favorite Christmas treat you should make is fresh ginger molasses cookies, you keep hunting for better and better cookie recipes.  And so it was with me this year.

I stumbled on this recipe, http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/recipe/recipe-drunken-molasses-cookies-with-ginger-160363 which adds a little rum to the usual mix.  I made the recipe as listed, and decided that both the dough was too wet, and the cookies just lacked something...

The cookies can be scooped, but they are gloppy and won't really form balls.  I like my dough a little stiffer not just for forming, but because I like to roll them in a little turbinado sugar just for fun.  If you aren't rolling them in sugar, you can chill the dough for a while and it will firm up enough to portion.

Looking at past recipes of other attempts, and just comparing spices and such, I realized I needed to add something, and also, I decided to thicken up the dough a little bit with extra flour.

I added 3/4 tsp of Cinnamon, which as the only spice addition really improved how the rest of the flavors came together.  I also added almost an additional cup of flour.  I added it in increments as I stirred, and I would say to do the same until you get the consistency that feels right.

Once I got the dough where I wanted it, I used a cookie scoop to measure out balls, and rolled them in turbinado before hitting the cookie sheet.

When they baked, the melted turbinado created this wonderful crisp crust, and the cookie inside was moist and tender.   I don't know that the rum added so much, but I used Bicardi Gold.  I might try some Captain Morgan's just to see what benefit a spiced rum would give.  Overall, I think it was a successful batch, and the family seemed to enjoy them quite a bit.

I still may play with it a little, but I think I have a good place to start.

Memories of tortillas and cooking

One of the things I had the fortune of growing up with is fresh flour tortillas.  Any time we had a meal where they were needed, Mom would whip up a fresh batch.  Occasionally, I'd even get to help out with the cooking of them.

From http://woodstoveparts.com

Tortillas had an interesting set of traditions in my family on my Mom's side.  In Latino families, it isn't unusual for them to be made at home fresh, but sometimes, if you worked in the local tortilla factories as some of my Mom's family did, they'd bring home "fresh from the factory".  Another interesting aspect was for how they got cooked at home.  The traditional way to make them involves cooking on a round cast-iron griddle called a Comal.  Nowadays when you search for "Comal" you end up finding all the typical round griddles that people buy for all sorts of things.  Back then, however, with wood stoves not being quite as antique, it wasn't uncommon for the cast-iron stove covers to be repurposed to be used as a comal on a more modern stove.  We have one in my family that my Mom still keeps and uses from time to time.

As with most home-grown recipes, while it is all well and good to attempt to write them down, it is inevitable that there are things that don't get quantified.  It is difficult when you've made something your whole life without a recipe to suddenly remember and get it all down accurately so that someone who's never made it before can do it.  That was me when trying to reproduce my Mom's tortilla recipe.  She had it down for me, but no matter how many times I tried it, the dough never came out quite right.  Ultimately I know that there is some little piece of love that I'm missing to make it come together.  That or a little extra flour or water or something. ;-)

Recently, I stumbled on a recipe I really like.  While hopping around YouTube, I found a video of a woman that makes them, and she has an instructional video as well.

 The dough is really supple, and as you work it, all the sticky dough from your fingers incorporates in until you're left with a really nice ball.

The 45 degree rotating method while rolling is a really nice trick to get them round.  I always rotated 90 degrees which is a great trick to get them to look weird and lumpy.   :-)   I also use vegetable oil instead of shortning (I will have to try them sometime with lard just to know how much better they can be), and they still turn out pretty good.

One last thing I do, out of laziness more than anything else is I just divide my dough by halves to get the count I want.  I start with the big ball and divide it in half.  Then each half into half.. and onwards until I get what I need.  If I want large wrap-style tortillas, I divide it down to eight balls (though on my comal, they roll out almost too big.  I'm considering trying to divide the big ball into thirds and then working my way in halves down).  If I want more modest rounds, I divide down to 16 balls.

One of the other things not mentioned in the video, but having manned the comal for many years you learn is that it is a roll and flip sort of thing.  You place down your most recent rolled tortilla and then start rolling out the next one.  Periodically you move to flip the one on the comal while you finish rolling out the next one.  Then as the fresh tortilla is ready to remove from the comal, you are ready to place the next one down.  And so on and so on until you're finished.    It is good to keep the hot ones wrapped in a cloth on a plate or in your serving basket.  Just remember to allow for ventilation wherever you keep them because if you don't allow for the steam to escape, they'll get soggie.

I'm sure some people think it is easier to hit up the local mega-mart and grab a pack of pre-mades.  But as easy and fast as these are to make, and as delicious as they turn out, why would you?

Product Review: Titan Peeler!

I'm always on the lookout for good solid kitchen tools which make my life easier, and perform well.  I generally stray from what AB would call uni-taskers when at all possible (I only have so much kitchen storage.  Don't have room for fluff), but for those few things where you really do need a dedicated tool, I like finding good products.

I had seen the hype for the Titan Peeler on TV and in magazines, and I remember thinking it was a really nice tool.  Peeling vegetables is one of those things where if you don't have a sharp peeler or you don't really know how to use one, it not only is dangerous, but it really becomes a chore to peel with.

I've always been a fan of a nice sharp pivoting hand held peeler like Mom used.  Never had a major problem with them, and they were nice and simple.  At least that's what I thought until I picked up my Titan the first time and set to work on some potatoes.    

Because of the nature of the design and the way the blade is mounted, you can peel in both directions without shifting your work.  It makes peeling extremely fast.  The blades are serrated and very sharp, and make light work of a pile of potatoes.  

I've peeled apples, carrots, cucumbers, and others.  I haven't yet attempted shaved chocolates or cheeses, but the Titan is made to do both, and the hand-feel leads me to believe it would be a snap to do it.

Reading on Amazon, the biggest complaint, humorously enough, is that the blades are TOO sharp.  People apparently don't know what to do with a peeler that actually works, and end up slicing themselves up.  I can see why this would happen. If you aren't paying attention, you can peel yourself!  

The julienne tool is also pretty nice.  I don't seem to use it as often, but it has worked fairly well the times I've tried it.  It doesn't glide quite as smoothly since in addition to the peeling-like-blade, there are vertical mini blades that divide the peel into nice uniform straws, but it works well.

I haven't put it up to any serious abuses yet.  Maybe this fall I'll try and peel an Acorn squash for fun.  That would be an interesting test.  But abuses aside, I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a nice upgrade from the run of the mill peeler.  My other previous favorites now sit in the drawer unused, and I'm inclined to think it will stay that way.

An Eggsellent Dinner

Photo from FreeClipArtPictures.com

One of the things I enjoy about getting a CSA box is that they often throw in things I wouldn't otherwise think to buy for myself.  This week, we got an Eggplant!  I can't say I've ever really learned to appreciate eggplant.  My mother seemed to enjoy them, but I don't recall her making it very often.  I know she had a love of Eggplant Manicotti, and I think she made that once that I recall.  I don't remember being all that impressed, but it was a long time ago.  I don't recall having tried it on my own since.

But with a beautifully purple fruit in my possession, I couldn't help but see what I could do.  I wasn't really thinking Manicotti, but Eggplant Parmigiana sounded like a good choice.

I dug through various recipes, and they mostly said the same things.  Bread the eggplant, fry it, layer it between homemade tomato sauce, slices of mozzarella, and basil leaves  up in 2-3 layers in a baking dish, and bake until it is melty and toasty.  

I started with a 28 oz can of peeled whole tomatoes which I emptied into a sauce pan on medium heat.  To that, I added half an onion (cut in half.. so two quarters) left intact, 5 tablespoons of butter, a shake or two of salt, one clove of garlic, minced, and about half a cup of red wine.

I left that to simmer down, occasionally smashing the tomato pulp against the pan with a spoon.

I sliced the eggplant into 1/4-1/2 inch slices and dipped them in flour, then egg, then seasoned bread-crumbs.  Then in about 1/2 inch of olive oil, I fried them until golden.

Back to the sauce, once it had cooked down, and the onion was translucent, I removed the onion, and used a potato masher to break down the remaining pulp.  I suppose I could have broke out the immersion blender, but I wanted to have it a little chunky.  I let it simmer a while longer until it thickened.

Once the sauce was ready, I broke out the small baking dish (if you use 2-3 eggplants, go for the 13x9 dish), and starting with the sauce, I layered it with the eggplant, slices of mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, and parmigiana reggianno, and managed 3 layers with about 12 slices from the one eggplant.  Sauce on top, more parm, and into the oven for about 20-25 minutes at 350 until it starts to brown and is all melty.

Not only is it vegetarian, but with this preparation, even a meat lover like me won't miss it.  I'm going to have to start hunting down my own eggplant now. :-)