Lisa2k

Lasagna Bolognese has been dinner last night and the night before. An abbreviated 'start to finish', since the whole process required like 40 photos! Bolognese sauce Ground beef and veal, mire poix, pancetta, garlic, San Marzano tomatoes (about a 1 lb), red wine, a combo of chicken and beef stock, half heavy cream and half whole milk (Not the half and half you buy at the market..literally 1 cup of each). No cinnamon, cloves, green herbs, etc, that some like to add. I wanted to keep it simple and authentic. Slowly simmered for 5 hours. Pasta sheets Basic pasta dough. About 4 eggs and one yolk to 3 1/4-1/2 cups flour, nothing else, since the Bolognese is so concentrated after simmering for so long. Kneading then resting. Rolling, rolling, rolling, keep that pasta rolling. These do not have to be perfect..in fact I wanted to keep them 'rustic'. This is down home, italian comfort food, not haute cuisine. I had sheets of the pasta drying all over the kitchen and dinette. I probably got about 2 lbs of pasta, total. Bechamel Sauce Adding milk to the blond roux until I got a nice, creamy sauce that coated the back of a spoon. To the sauce, I added sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a couple 'microplane grates' of whole, fresh nutmeg. Mise en place for assembling the lasagna From left to right..the bechamel sauce, bolognese sauce, grated parm-reg, and finally, the briefly boiled (about 40 seconds for every three sheets) lasagna noodles. Assembling First a thin layer of bolognese, the pasta sheets, then more bolognese, bechamel, and finally the Parmigiano-Reggiano, covered with another layer of the pasta sheets -- lather, rinse, repeat..ad infinitum, until you run out of the sauces, pasta and cheese and it's ready to go into the oven. 350F for about 40-60 minutes, since this baby was about 5-6 layers deep. Finished Lasagna I didn't think any of the above platings needed any adorning. I felt the lasagna stands on it's own. BTW, if this is too much for the dinner thread, please don't hesitate to direct me to the proper thread to post it in, as I'm still learning as I go along here.

Coconut flan, dense chocolate-coconut truffle cake. Blood orange caramel, lightly salted caramel dust, toasted peels of fresh coconut on top.

Thank so much Rob. Fortunately, I came to my senses prior to your response and checked the pastry and baking demo..lol Still getting settled in here.

Could you please link me to that demo, Tri2? I did a search, but only came up with some large threads that didn't refer to it in the title or first few pages. Thank you, in advance

Yep..pairing well with the RS fine play as of late *grumbling* That said..I love the sound of your pirinha and cachaca , and when I run into some nice littlenecks (my fav for ceviche), I think I just may give it a shot (no pun intended). I especially like the addition of the orange juice to your ceviche, and was thinking of using blood orange for a more reddish-pinkish hue. I'll post photos when I get to it. Thanks for the ideas, and your dishes looks scrumptious!

I've been baking several batches of macarons a week, trying to master these finicky little cookies...and I think I'm getting a little closer to how they should look. That said, I had this sudden craving for a Mojito last night, but no fresh mint..so, since my head has been filled with macarons for over a month now, I decided to make Mojito macarons. Lime zest was added to macaron batter along with an OD of green gel color (one drop came out as a blob, much to my surprise). Once they were baked and cooled, the underside of each cookie was brushed with a white rum simple syrup, then filled with a light Creme de Menthe Blanche buttercream. It wasn't a Mojito, but it definitely satisfied the craving! Below are two kinds of caramel macarons. Salted caramel, and almond flavored caramel topped with poppy seeds. Finally, Gooey lemon meringue macarons. Lemon zest in the cookie, filled with LOTS of Italian meringue (I tend to overfill my macarons, as you can see). Also, this was a Birthday gift for a friend..(photo came out awful, but I need a better camera anyway).. ...who asked me to make her something that was dominated with two of her favorite flavors - pistachio and orange. This is what I came up with. Moist, dense pistachio, cardamom cake, spread with orange curd, served along a type of chopped pistachio, orange supreme, honey glazed kumquat, 'ambrosia' (I just added to it without any plan). On the other side of the cake..White chocolate-pistachio mousse swirled with orange caramel, and coarsely chopped, candied pistachios. She loved it, and that's all that mattered. A 'less' adorned version for the rest of of us.

Breakfast for dinner. Since I hadn't been able to stop at the market after work, I had to go with what I had on hand. I only had two eggs left , so I decided on some form of an eggs benedict, minus the Hollandaise, since I only had the two eggs . However, it really didn't need it, as it was served along with some wild watercress, with red grapes, grated ricotta salata, and a light, hot mustard emulsion. I buttered two slices of toasted Raisin-Flax seed ciabatta I'd baked the night before, with plugra, topped that with thick applewood smoked bacon, then the poached eggs with medium ground black tellicherry pepper, and touch fleur de sel on each. Unfortunately, the watercress salad photos came out blurry, so I chose to omit them. The contrast of the chewy raisins and toasted flax, with the creamy eggs and smokey, salty bacon, was truly a delight on the palate. At first my sig other scoffed at the idea of the raisins with the eggs, but one bite, and he was hooked.

First off, the poblanos with saffron rice looks and sounds fantastic..however, I think it would have tasted a lot better if you were watching the Yankees instead *ducking* Seriously though, what do you add to your clam ceviche besides the basic acids? I like to whip up 'clam shooters, with fresh tomato and lime juice, vodka, cilantro and hot sauce. It's a great start to a meal.

Well..considering I've been baking several batches a week, I think I'm getting a little closer to how they should look. That said, I had this sudden craving for a Mojito last night, but no fresh mint..so, since my head has been filled with macarons for over a month now, I decided to make a Mojito macaron. Lime zest was added to macaron batter along with an OD of green gel color (one drop came out as a blob, much to my surprise). Once they were baked and cooled, the underside of each cookie was brushed with a white rum simple syrup, then filled with a light Creme de Menthe Blanche buttercream. It wasn't a Mojito, but it definitely satisfied the craving

Here's the whole recipe in case someone wants to try the cookie part along with the filling. Ingredients: ***Cookie Dough*** 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 4 teaspoons baking soda 1 pound butter -- at room temperature 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup coarsely chopped peanuts 2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats ***Filling*** 4 ounces butter -- at room temperature 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 1 2/3 cup confectioners sugar Directions: For the cookie dough: Oven to 350. Mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda; set aside. Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and peanut butter. Add sugars and beat at medium speed for 4 minutes, scraping bowl twice. At low speed, add eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture and beat on low until well mixed, frequently scraping bowl. Add peanuts and oats. Using an ice cream scoop, place balls of dough on parchment-lined baking sheets at least three inches apart. Bake until cookies have spread and turned very light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely before filling. For the filling: Cream the butter, peanut butter and confectioners sugar until very smooth.

read arthur schwartz's new book about jewish cooking here in the states. it is a great read and he talks about the unfertilized eggs. as far as wasting food, sometimes i feel that is because people today are so disassociated from where their food comes from. drought and starvation are one issue but when someone has no idea of what goes into bringing the food they eat to market in terms of money and feed.... having said that i grew up eating tongue but could never, ever wrap my tastebuds around the taste of liver - no matter how it was prepared or of whatever variety. calves, beef soaked in milk, chicken... i have tried them multiple times. i can cook them but have to have someone else taste like my old boss who had to sample the country pate and chopped chicken livers i used to make at the restaurant. ← I'm DYING to find a place where I can get some of those unfertilized eggs! I must admit, I haven't looked as hard as I could, but does Arthur mention anywhere in and around NYC where they might be available? I haven't had them since I was a teenager. I can only assume they now just throw them out when processing the chickens *sigh*..which is not only a waste of food, but a waste of something incredibly delicious. That said, I used LOVE, LOVE, LOVE chopped chicken liver, with the hard boiled eggs, schmaltz etc, when I was a child. There was always tons of it, made from scratch, at holiday or family gatherings. Once I found out it was 'liver', I could never eat it again, as I could 'suddenly' taste the liver. I hate liver..period, unless it comes from a duck or goose! Amazing what your mind can do to your palate!

If the creamy, soft, liquid like center had some kind of 'cheesy' flavor to it, it sounds a lot like a gnocchi fonduta, which I learned to make from Chef Jamie Adams on a Great Chefs episode several years ago. Since you had it in Spain, I suppose the cheese could be Manchego, Cantabria or any other of the wonderful cheeses made in Spain. How they fill it is written out in the recipe below. Like I previously mentioned, you could substitite most any cheese that isn't oily and melts well, for the fontina in the recipe. Also, the base for the gnocchi you had could have been made with something other than potato, but give this one a try and see if it's close to what you had. Gnocchi Stuffed with Fonduta in Parmesan Cheese Cream Sauce Serves 4 Fonduta 1 pound Italian fontina cheese, rind removed, diced, soaked in 1 cup milk 3 egg yolks 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour Gnocchi 4 pounds Idaho potatoes 3 eggs 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon olive oil 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (approximately) Sauce 1 tablespoon butter 1 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Regiano cheese pinch of salt and pepper pepper to taste 1 truffle peeled and thinly sliced To make the fonduta: In a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the fontina with its soaking milk until smooth. Whisk in the egg yolks and flour and cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, about 7 minutes until smooth and thickened slightly. Be careful not to overcook, as the eggs will curdle and the mixture will separate. Remove the pan from the heat and remove the bowl from the pan. Stir the sauce for 1 minute while the water in the pan cools slightly. Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and allow to cool for 30 minutes. When the cheese is cooled enough to handle, but still slightly warm, transfer to a lightly floured work surface and roll into pencil-width strips. To make the gnocchi: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil over high heat. Add the potatoes and cook about 35 minutes until very tender. Remove the potatoes from the water and peel. While potatoes are still warm, pass them through a food mill. Allow the potatoes to cool completely. Spread the milled potatoes on a board and make a well in the center. Put the eggs, salt, and olive oil in the well. Little by little mix in the flour, incorporating it into the potatoes and liquids. Add the minimum amount of flour possible. When a solid dough is formed, start kneading. Gently knead for about 5 minutes, being careful not to overknead, as this will develop the gluten in the flour, making the gnocchi tough. Remove a small piece of the gnocchi and roll out into a strip the same width but slightly thicker than the fonduta strips. Press a fonduta strip into the gnocchi dough and roll out into a strip. Repeat with the remaining gnocchi and fonduta. Cut the strips crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. (Be careful not to place the strips too close together when cutting into pieces, as they will stick to each other.) Bring a large pot containing a large quantity of salted water to a boil over high heat. While the water is coming to a boil, make the sauce. To make the sauce: In a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat until golden. Add the cream and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook until reduced slightly. Add the cheese, salt and pepper to taste and cook until the cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth. Keep the sauce warm on the back of the stove while completing the dish. If necessary, reheat over very low heat. When the water is boiling, quickly drop all the gnocchi into the pot. Lightly stir the water with a wooden spoon to keep the gnocchi from sticking. After a few seconds, they will come to the surface of the water; let them cook for 1 minute longer. With a strainer, remove the gnocchi to the pan containing the sauce. Toss them briefly in the sauce to coat, and transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with the truffle.

Oh, I'll definitely post a ton of recipes come next Passover! I only wish I knew this thread was here a week or two ago! On the grandmother topic, I recall my paternal grandma used to go to the butcher to get fresh chickens, and some of the female chickens had unfertllized eggs in them that the butcher gave her for free. She would make her incredible chicken soup, and add them to it. They looked like hard boiled egg yolks, (but they weren't yet cooked) but firmer and maybe slightly sweeter. Plus, she'd get every part of that chicken, from the feet to the beak (once again..for free), and nothing was ever wasted! Chopped chicken liver, more soups, sauces, schmaltz to be stored etc etc. Quick, funny story. My grandfather loved her french vanilla pudding, so she would make it for him often. He saw a bowl of 'it' in the fridge, took it out and dug in, eating several heaping spoonfuls, wondering 'Hmm..did this go bad?'. It was schmaltz..LOL He must have washed his mouth out and brushed his teeth a gazillion times, but he maintained for years that it took days to get that taste and greasy feel out of his mouth.

First off, I'm glad I found this thread, even though Passover is over. For our seder, I was in charge of the brisket, Matzo Ball soup and a mocha roll made with potato starch that's always requested. I did the Matzo Ball soup a little differently than both of my grandmother's and their sisters taught me, this time, and it received raves. I made a rich, dark roasted chicken stock, caramelized some finely diced onions in the schmaltz, then added that to the matzo ball mixture (matzo meal, eggs, a little ginger ale, salt and pepper), along with fresh chives and parsley. Carrots (cooked in a portion of the finished, defatted stock, then added back to into the original pot), torn roasted chicken and a sprinkle of chives, finish it off. I always keep the cooked, cooled matzo balls in the cold defatted chicken stock the night before it's to be served, so it soaks up some of the chicken flavor, without clouding the soup. That said, I love sinkers AND floaters, so these Matzo balls have a little of both in them. Still light and fluffy, but just slightly firm enough that they don't break into pieces when digging into them. Also, I ran out of Matzo meal after the second batch, so I just threw some matzo's in the food processor. That said, I also watched the Gefilte Fish chronicles, for the third time in 2 years, and as usual, it also made me laugh and cry. My maternal grandmother had 8 sisters, and my paternal grandmother had 5 sisters. It was like watching a movie about my holidays as a child and teenager in the 'kitchen' -- watching, helping and learning from them.. especially at Passover! Unfortunately, they've all passed within the past 15-20 years, and holidays have never been the same. They really were the glue that held everyone together.

A step up from Bubby's! Homemade rich, dark roasted chicken stock - finely diced onions, caramelized in shmaltz, added to the matzo ball (matzo meal, eggs, a little ginger ale, salt and pepper) mixture, along with fresh chives and parsley. Carrots (cooked in the finished, defatted stock) and torn roasted chicken added to the soup. I love sinkers AND floaters, so I finally came up with a matzo ball that has a little of both. A closer view.

These are gnocchi are made with ricotta, eggs and flour, topped with a homemade marinara (good quality olive oil, chopped garlic, minced onion, San Marzano tomatoes, pinch of sugar, s & p to taste, and fresh basil) and freshly grated parm-reg. The key to tender gnocchi, whether it be potato, ricotta, butternut squash, spinach, or wherever your creativity takes you, is not too much flour, not overworking/kneading the dough, (as this would allow the gluten to develop, resulting in a tough gnocchi), not letting them sit out too long to dry (try to cook them within a half hour of forming them), and taking them out of the salted, boiling water as soon as they rise to the top. Also, try not to make them too big. About a 1/2 to 1 inch piece cut off a somewhat slender, rolled rope of the dough, is usually just right per gnocchi, unless you're making a gnocchi grande!

PS - no pics...they looked like cookies, except really big! LOL!! I just spewed diet coke all over my screen. Funny!! That said, Has anyone tried the actual Bouchon Bakery Nutter Butter cookie recipe? Like I said above, I always use their filling to sandwich some of my peanut butter cookies, but the recipe for their cookie contains 1 lb of butter compared to the rest of the 'basic amount' of ingredients, which is 'obviously' a lot! Now, don't get me wrong, I love butter, and I don't skimp, but I was just curious if these cookies were worth 1 whole lb of butter, and how they came out (??).

Here's an incredible Maple Walnut cake that uses quite a bit of maple syrup in it, from the cake, to the frosting..to my favorite part, the walnuts being candied in the maple syrup. This is truly one of the best Maple Walnut (or any other nut that suits your fancy) cakes I've ever had, and I make it often. Click for recipe!

I just added it to the RecipeGullet, Kim. It can be searched for as 'Korean BBQ Pork Buns'. Once again..thank you!

Aww..thanks. Amrita, but truth be told, that one pistachio macaron in the photo is ONLY one that came out decent enough to even use in the photo! Trust me when I say you wouldn't want to see the other ones! Also..thanks to you and tan for pointing out that it's best to use a 50-50 ratio of almond meal and pistachio meal. I'm hoping it works, as pistachio is not only one of my favorites, but seems to be a popular choice among many. I always grind my nuts to a fine powder. When I use prepackaged almond meal, I just grind it in the robocoupe witn the icing sugar, since it's already pretty fine, but lenny - I do use a coffee grinder to get the pistachios to a powder, or when I'm grinding my own almonds, perfectly demonstrated by the 'step forward' with the vanilla-orange curs macs. However, I guess it was the ground pistachios 'alone' that made the 'ugly' difference. I can't wait to try it with both meals. Once again, I'll report back. Oh, one more thing..I've never dried out my almond meal prior to mixing with the icing sugar..whether it be toasting or in a low oven.. at all. Does it really make that much of a difference? It feels pretty dry to me, even after grinding. Then again, no doubt the ground, toasted almonds just add another dimesnsion of flavor to the cookie. I usually toast nuts in other recipes, to bring out more of their flavor, especially in cookies.

Spicy Red Roast chicken with coconut-saffron basmati rice, spiked with diced red rocoto chiles. Stir fried garlic baby bok choy and roasted peppers, with a light soy-sesame oil drizzle. Messy plating, but pleasing to the palate. Also, I made a batch of Korean BBQ Pork buns to snack on today. They're like Char Sui Bau (chinese pork buns), but glazed and baked instead of steamed, just like the ones you find in the Korean bakeries. I REALLY need a better camera. I currently use a Vivitar digicam. Can anyone recommend a good digital camera that isn't too OTT expensive?

OK..my mission to get a perfectly shaped macaron with a nice shell and good feet, is getting better, demonstrated by the Vanilla macarons filled with orange curd, below. What could have made a difference, is that this time I baked them at 325 for 6 minutes, then turned the pan completely around, and let them go for another 5 minutes. These were made with french meringue. I call them 'reverse' creamsicles..lol Some of them had a little bittersweet chocolate ganache surprise in the middle, but they were eaten before I could snap some photos of them split in half. However, on the flip side..I'm having so much trouble making pure pistachio macarons using all pistachio meal in the TPT instead of almond meal. They taste delicious, but turn out horrible in all aesthetic aspects, as you can see below, especially when compared to the Vanilla-Orange macaron. I just don't get it. The batter was perfect, and settled nicely without any peaks or too much spreading. Here's a photo of them drying. I usually let them dry anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the weather. Maybe it's because I use ALL pistachio meal in the TPT instead of combining some of it with almond meal? Maybe there's a different texture and/or oiliness to pistachios? I grind them to a fine powder just like the almonds (although I did use already ground almond meal in the vanilla-orange macs, and ground them down even more with the icing sugar). Regardless, I've seen people on the net (blogs mostly) have great success using all pistachio meal, as they turn out beautiful. I don't want to just color the batter green and add pistachio flavoring, and then fill with pure pistachio paste, pure pistachio buttercream, or some form of ganache or gelee with pure pistachios mixed in. I want that really pure pistachio flavor in the cookie itself. However, even though they come out ugly, the flavor and texture is phenomenal. Now I just need to figure out a way to make them pretty. Any suggestions or ideas would be so helpful.

OMG, that sounds amazing..what a great idea! I sometimes add chili flakes to my peanut butter cookies, and chopped, dried ancho chiles (rehydrated a bit) to my oatmeal raisin cookies (yes, different topic), but I never thought of adding sweet and spicy peanuts to a peanut butter cookie! I'm definitely going to try that! Thank you!

Gosh, I'm so used to those peanut butter brands, that natural, or my own homemade peanut butter seems to pale in comparison. That's one part of my palate that never changed when I got older. Thanks, Mom. LOL On another note..does anyone remember Google or Googie flavored peanut butters? It was a brief mid 70's product, and came in chocolate, banana and vanilla. I used to sit on our front lawn with a jar of the vanilla and eat it with a spoon. I was in love with the stuff. I must have been about 3 or 4, and made such a mess with it (just had to share it with some of the bugs..lol). Having said all that, can I find Ling's peanut butter cookie recipe in the RecipeGullet, or can someone post a link to it?

Also, non-natural peanut butter contains sugar, hence why many prefer it over natural. It really does make a difference, especially in baking. Just out of curioisity, do peanuts contain natural sugars? If they do, let's just say good 'ole JIF, Skippy and Peter Pan, have a lot more sugar added to them.