Mozzarella-rama!

Last week I made mozzarella, and have been meaning to retype my printout to tell you just what I did, but that is extremely tedious, so I went out and found you some links to great guides.


THIS RECIPE is pretty spot on to what I did.  I don't have a microwave, so I did everything by hand, and melted the curds to knead into cheese by lowering them in heated whey.  I feel like the microwave might be more effective.

THESE TIPS are extremely useful and are worth reading before you start.

If you go for it (and you try the microwave method) let me know how it goes!

Everything From Scratch

Guess what I did last night!

****

Give up?

I made fresh mozzarella!! 

It took only two hours.  I have recently been on a mission to make as many food staples as possible from scratch.  I like to control the ingredients and cut down on preservatives in my food (not only because I am an admitted control freak, but also because I want to live healthier), so the effort and time investment is worth it to me.  Monday night two of my very good friends took me to a cheese making workshop where we learned the basics of ricotta, mascarpone, chevre, and mozzarella.  I think this will prove to be one of the more valuable life skills I have acquired, ranking up there with perfecting chicken. I wanted to put my new knowledge to the test right away, so I decided to start with one of the cheeses I didn't have a chance to get my hands on the night before.

It just so happens one of Andrew's favorite things to eat is caprese salad, so mozzarella was really a no-brainer decision. When the mozzarella was ready, I sliced it, piled it with halved cherry tomatoes (so they don't squirt or jump away from your fork), and some basil leaves, which I like to chiffonade so they're easier to eat and don't overpower the other flavors in one bite the way a whole leaf would.  I drizzled a little olio ai funghi over the whole thing, gave it a sprinkle of sea salt, and voila! Dinner.

Savory Dessert: Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream

image source

We have an out of town guest coming to town tomorrow and I'm planning an intimate dinner for four on Friday.  Yesterday I got a wild hare up my ass and decided in addition to lamb shanks and a certain potato dish I found irresistible,  I should also include a dessert.

Ok Ill be honest: I was also looking for an excuse to bust out the new ice cream maker I got at a recent bridal shower.

There's no question what the dessert should be: salted caramel ice cream.  My special fella loves caramel.  I mean he LOVES it.  Our guest of honor (like myself) is a salt-fiend.  It's the perfect compromise.

A quick google search brought me to David Lebovitz, who is unarguably an authority on ice cream and all things delicious.  He's also a fantastic writer, and I respect the hell out of him for that.  I decided his recipe is my best bet.

I'm currently halfway through the process, and though the recipe isn't difficult, it is a process.  The custard took a lot of babying and is currently chilling, as is my ice cream maker.  Both need a minimum eight-hour chill before the next step, so it's a good thing I read the recipe last night.  I also prefer firmer ice cream, so giving it more time in the freezer is important to me.

In the end, I hope to have smooth rich caramel ice cream with salty toffee crackles sprinkled throughout.  I'll keep you posted.

Update:  We had this on Friday night and it was everything I'd hoped it would be... and more!  I'm going to have to keep myself from making this ALL THE TIME because it's just so wonderful.  I'd balloon within a month!

Nothing Like Technicolor Cake...

image source

I had a bit of a bumpy morning yesterday and stormed into the office like a dark cloud.  Insignificant annoyances were inspiring rage, which I had to keep checked for professional conduct reasons, and though every fiber of me wanted to take each dish in the kitchen and smash it on the floor, I decided it would feel even worse to get fired from a place I actually love for my own childish behavior.  Everything was needling me in the worst way with no relief in sight.  So at 9am, I decided to take a little breather and check in on one of my favorite blogs, Confections of a (Closet) Master Baker.

I love this blog. Gesine, the author, is one talented woman.  In addition to creating some of the most amazing cakes I've ever seen, she has a book out and runs marathons, which is something I aspire to do but so far have been too scared... on both counts.  My fiance has had the hots for her sister for years, but I'm more of a fan of this lady.  She's someone I can relate to and look up to at the same time.  In fact, if my best friends and I took each of our best features and combined forces into one awesome woman, she just might be our "Captain Planet."  Ok, enough gushing.  Back to my bad day.

In order to take my mind off everything that was getting to me, I went to take a look at CCMB to see what kind of lovelies she had that day.  Right there smiling back at me was the most glorious rainbow layer cake I've ever seen.  I nearly fell off my chair with joy.  It was a trifecta of happiness: my own longtime love of rainbow cakes, beautiful and innovative execution, and wonderful pictures.  My heart went like this:

And just like that, I lightened up a little bit.  I took a deep breath, found my inner-rainbow, and shook off that bad attitude I'd worked up over the last coupe hours.  It's amazing what a little beauty and creative inspiration can do.

A Lot-a Yukata, Etc

This past weekend my friend Patricia had a trunk show at Fabric Crush featuring her vast collection on vintage Japanese fabrics.  It just so happens that the house I grew up in, where my parents still reside, is three blocks away.

Saturday afternoon I collected my mom and dragged her out to the show.  I knew I was going to at least buy a yard or two, but then something happened... We were talking about the nautical decor in my upcoming wedding (which I know I have promised will not take over my blog) when Patricia got out the bolt of fabric you see her holding in the above photo and oops!  I bought the whole bolt.  She gave me an amazing deal on it because of some areas she saw as flaws in the fabric (whereas I will call them character and not think about it again).

I'm so excited!  Blue and white stripes?  Check.  Artsy waves?  Check.  Helloooo table decor!

Afterward, we wandered over to Fainting Goat on 45th for gelato.  It's the best gelato I've ever had, and I'm not exaggerating.  If you're thinking, "well I went to Italy, and the stuff I had there..." stop right there.  Yep, it's better than that.  I got dark chocolate and salted caramel.  My mom got pistachio and hazelnut.  It was all heavenly.  I was especially impressed with the pistachio, which does not taste like that disappointing spumoni pistachio, but rather the real nut.  Amazing.  Check it:

Adorable logo and delicious product. I am in love.

Meatballs Galore.

source: Bon Appetite

I love sandwiches.  It's a deep, deep love.  I eat them whenever I can.  Recently, during a weekend getaway with some friends to Leavenworth, I was sucked into an issue of Bon Appetit magazine with a feature on meatballs.  This reminded me how delicious they are on sandwiches, and then I flipped the page to the pork meatball bahn mi.  Cue the heavenly choirs.  Sunday I went to the store and got all the fixins so I could make it ASAP.  It.  was.  amazing.  I modified the recipe a little and used asian quick-pickled cucumbers instead of the radish, and did a lime-sesame oil sriracha dressing instead of the mayo-based one.  I liked it so much, I ate it again for lunch the next day.

Tonight?  Another meatball extravaganza:

source : Bon Appetit

Fall Adventures

The weekends have been wonderfully cool, crisp, and sunny recently and I'm taking advantage of early fall by doing some of my favorite fall things.  For one, walks around our neighborhood are wonderful this time of year.  It's an old Seattle neighborhood with great big deciduous trees that are just starting to turn and shed their foliage.

This is a photo of Andrew laughing at me because I kept trying to get an action shop of him walking, but he would stop and pose.  There was a lot of "ok now look at me," [Andrew stops, faces me in sort of a "ta-da!" stance] "No!  I need you to keep walking!"  This was repeated multiple times until I was crafty enough to catch him off guard before he could fully turn.

So then on Saturday, the weather was wonderful and I took Andrew up to the Skagit Valley to pick apples.  I'd been planning it for a few weeks as a surprise and it just happened that the weather worked out.

Yes, that's me in a cartoon barrel of apples.  I love stuff like that.

I made Andrew pose as the honeybee.

It ended up taking all of thirty minutes to collect fifty-five pounds of Jonagold apples.  They are delicious.  I gave a few to some friends and family, but I have grand plans of pies and cider.

I stayed to the low branches, and there were plenty of good-sized apples to choose from, but Andrew was reaching for the higher ones, just because he can.

It was a good time.  After we'd picked a wagon full of apples, we wheeled it back to the barn and bought some cinnamon doughnuts and fresh cider, plus a bottle of hard cider for later.

As part of our journey, we drove down the road to my aunt and uncle's restaurant, The Rhodedendron Cafe.  Uncle Don was working in the kitchen, so we called him out and chatted for a while.

Here's the thing I love about this place:  It's not what you'd expect.  It's way out in the country and looks like your grandma's home kitchen.  You might expect simple diner fare.  No, ma'am.  Don and Carol close the restaurant for several weeks in the late fall through the winter and go travel looking for cultural immersion and culinary inspiration.  We're talking places like Tanzania and Spain, folks.  Their menu is phenomenal.  I'm never disappointed and always impressed.

So in short, fall is in full swing here in Monicaland.  Next up?  Pumpkin patch adventures?

Galettes/Pies/Tarts

I've been obsessed with pies lately.  It happened when my talented baxtress friend Abby mentioned she hated making pies.  I happen to love baking pies and offered my services as an overflow option if she ever needed it.  I usually try not to do this because there are few things more annoying than someone trying to weasel her way into your culinary project.  In fact, I'm a firm believer in staying out of another cook's home kitchen entirely.  That being said, Abby is my PLP and I know she would feel comfortable saying, "Monica, stay the eff out of my biz," if she had to.  So I offered, and then stayed the eff out her biz, but I made pies anyway.  For myself.  Of course.

So Abby got pies back on my brain, but with a twist.  I'm usually an apple pie baker with a full top crust, but she got me thinking about galettes - rustic topless pies.  Pretty sexy, eh?  Indeed.  My first go was a mixed berry version, which Andrew still requests.  It was great.  I'm a big proponent of lemon in pies, so any pie I make will get the juice of at least 1/2 lemon.  It's just for some extra zing.  For me, a berry pie/tart with no hint of tart zing is a failure.  I hate failing.

Then, a couple weeks ago I got up at an ungodly early hour on a Sunday morning while spending the weekend at my friend Sabina's place in Gig Harbor.  I raided her kitchen for pie ingredients and threw together this:

Okay so it's not rustic, but it was delicious and simple to throw together - literally.  I put six eggs, some provolone, ham, zucchini, dill, and a shallot int a bowl, stirred it up, and threw it in a pie crust (which I half-baked ahead of time). We ate it like this:

While we ate, I had this in the oven:

This one is indeed a rustic pie, which just means I pay more attention to the way the fruit looks and forget the top crust altogether.  It was scrumptious.  We ate it like this:

The secret's in the crust.  I am fortunate enough to come from a long line of pie-baking women who have a tried and true crust.  I'm sure it dates back before Grandma Miller, but that's as far as I have ever bothered to ask.  That was four generations ago and out to the plains of Kansas, a generation before the Great Depression.  It's damn good crust and even if she didn't create the recipe, she gets a nod for keeping the pie tradition going, as does Gma Benton and Gma Shank, and especially my mama.

So I've been making these galettes since Memorial Day weekend and I just can't get enough.  It's a lazy way to make pie without compromising on any of the deliciousness or presentation.  Last night I made a recipe I saw on Smitten Kitchen for a zucchini ricotta galette with some of my own mods.  I plugged the recipe in HERE so I could calculate the nutrition info per serving too, because I like to do that.  We all loved last night's galette so much, I made it again this morning for lunch/dinner tonight, plus a peach one with lemon-scented ricotta.  My car was extremely fragrant.  Here they are in my back seat:

Happy July to you all!

Simple Suppers

Please excuse the cell phone upload.  My camera battery was dead and I wanted to share this with you.

Monday night marked our four year anniversary.  It was the end of a long rainy weekend and we had been celebrating for three days, so we wanted something simple and fresh to cap off the day we'd spent at Green Lake.  A bowl of garlicy salty steamed clams seemed just the thing.  We decided to forgo the wine and give our livers a break, but I did include a little dry white wine in the broth of my clams.  Paired with a bright herby green salad and some fresh baked bread, it was the ideal light feast.  I have to do this more often.

Burgers, Round Two

Last night was raid-the-fridge night again.  I had the GF buns in the freezer and some left over grilled chicken cubes from pizza night.  I made those into patties and topped them with some pesto, fresh basil leaves, and low fat mozzarella.  The salad fixins were tossed in a light bright red wine vinaigrette.  In Andrew's words, they were damn good.  We washed it all down with a vodka lemon fizz (vodka, triple sec, club soda, lemon squeeze).  They were little guys, but super duper filling.

Gluten-Free Salmon Burgers

Remember in my last post I mentioned I did some baking on Sunday?  You didn't think I'd miss a chance to tell you in detail how pleasantly and deliciously surprised I was with the results, did you?  Of course not.  This story gets its very own post.

So it all started on Thursday with a fantastic sunny evening that turned into a grill night with two of our good friends.  I did sides and a dessert, Abby brought the salmon, and Alex came over with great wine and the most amazing chocolate macaroon that's ever passed my lips.  We feasted.

There was quite a bit of salmon left over, but it was on the dry side so it needed some attention before it could be reserved.  Salmon burgers were a perfect solution.  I've been craving a good burger lately anyway.

Most of you know I'm trying to be gluten-free these days, but I relapse all the time because bread is so delicious, and it's tough to find tasty alternatives.  Also, it's super inconvenient.  Sometimes it just makes more sense to go with the flow and suffer the consequences.  Not to mention, bunless burgers suck.

This brings me to the baking portion of this post.  I decided yesterday to take matters into my own hands and make some gluten-free buns for future summer grilling opportunities.  I have had a package of Bob's Red Mill gluten-free bread mix in my arsenal for a couple months.  It was time to bust it out.  I was unsure about the results because BRM is really heavy on the garbanzo bean flour, a flavor I really don't like.  However, the recipe called for quite a bit of eggs (or egg replacer), so even though the dough tasted grassy and bitter, the end result was actually really delicious.  I also kneaded in some extra sweet sorghum flour, which may or may not have had any effect at all.  Just thought I'd mention it.  here's what they looked like out of the oven:

They were so light and delicious, they were almost biscuity.  I was darn impressed, because I did not have high expectations for these bad boys.

While those were baking (rather than the recommended 60 min for the loaf, I did 10 min uncovered + 10 min covered with foil for the buns), I whipped up the salmon cakes.  My friend Kori had given me a package of gluten-free breadcrumbs, left over from her gluten-free cooking experiment, so I used that as well as an egg, which gave the salmon the right amount of moisture and texture.  It was already flavored from its first life as grilled salmon fillet, so I just added a little kosher salt and cooked them on the skillet in a little olive oil.

I topped them with some pesto, balsamic-caramelized red onions, and goat cheese.  My bf got dubliner cheese on his instead of goat cheese.  They were phenomenal.  I was halfway through wolfing my burger down when I realized I'd probably want to tell you about them.  Here's the pic I snapped with my phone:

As you can see, I'd been chowing pretty good by this point.  So amazing.  The best part?  It was done entirely with leftovers and condiments I already had in the fridge.  Boo-yow!

How Do You Feel About Eggplant?

I really love it, but very few people in my life feel the same way.  I recently came across a recipe for Eggplant Parmesan that suggests roasting the slices (after salting, draining, and rinsing them, of course) before wrapping them around cheese, setting them in tomato sauce and topping them with more cheese.  I've never heard of the pre-roasting technique, and I'm wondering if I could get the naysayers in my life to give eggplant a whirl by cooking it this way.

Do you love eggplant?  Hate it?  Willing to be an adventuresome eater?

I'm going to try this, minus mint, plus basil.

On Deck for Tonight

Tonight is ladies night, party of two.  I'm kicking out the man so he can go do manly things like rock climb or drink beers out of cans while my bff comes over for a culinary masterpiece.

We're going to start out with a 3/4 full bottle of chilled Tomero white, paired with Pirate's Booty, which we will follow with a second course of a half drank bottle of Columbia Winery Merlot, which I've been saving for this special occasion.  From there I'm going to make shakshuka, inspired by Deb and her irresistible blog, and serve it with a previously sampled bottle of Malbec. 

Things might get a little goofy - see above picture, but replace red keg cup with classy wine glass.  Pictured ladies will not be substituted with classier versions.  Doesn't it look like that blond girl is singing happy birthday?  She's not.  She's actually at a garden party celebrating no one's birthday.

In other news, I went on a tour of the Theo chocolate factory last night and ate nothing but chocolate for dinner.  And red wine.  It was amazing.

glory is mine!

Today was the office chili cook-off. We had nine chili entries and a whole host of cornbread, biscuits, chips, spiced nuts, and beer. The competition was steep: there are some very good cooks among our staff. What were we after? Besides bragging rights? The golden spoon of victory! (see below)


This trophy is made from a real wooden chili spoon, spray painted with high-quality gold glitter craft paint, and laced in ribbon in our official office colors. (kinda like high school, huh?) Guess who walked away with the title?

That's right! None other than yours truly! Frankly, I'm just relieved I can back up all that trash-talking I did leading up to the cook-off. OK now here comes the bragging (hey! I earned it!): This is the second chili cook-off I've participated in and won! The last one was 2004, my senior year of college. I remember that chili being good, but nothing spectacular; I think the only reason it won was I dialed it back on the spice so the judges could actually taste it, whereas Adam, whose chili was probably truly the best, made it so spicy it burned all the way down. Those small details are what make a winner, folks!

I kept my recipe this year secret until I had claimed victory, but I think it's safe to share it with you now. You are welcome to take it and tweak it as you like for any chili cook-off you dare to enter.

Ingredients:
a chuck roast (don't spend more than $6) cut into 1-inch cubes
$6 worth of pork also cut into 1-inch cubes
*side note: I'm giving you measurements in dollar amounts because I can't remember what the poundage was; I just eye-balled it and then said, "yep, I can afford that."
4 Tbsp chili powder
1Tbsp-ish kosher salt + more at your discretion
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups diced sweet onions
1/2 ancho chile, seeded and coarsely chopped
5 cloves of garlic, blanched and coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp cumin
2 tsp turmeric
1 pint beef stock (or turkey stock with beef bouillon added, which is what I actually did)
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes with juice
2 cans black beans
2 cans red kidney beans
1/2 lb bacon coarsely chopped
1 cup Oaxacan mole sauce
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2-3 Tbsp red wine vinegar (more or less to your taste)
cayenne pepper, shake it how you like it, baby!

In a pan, brown the beef and pork (you'll probably want to do it in batches)
Throw them into a crock pot, toss in the salt and chili powder, put the lid on, and cook it on low for 4 hrs, turning the meat gently maybe twice during the course of the slow-cook
In your soup pot, cook the onions, ancho chile, and garlic in olive oil until the onions become translucent.
Add the cumin and turmeric and cook a little longer
When you get bored, add the stock, tomatoes in juice, 1 can of black beans, 1 can of kidney beans, and cook a little longer, stirring with a wooden spoon.
While that is simmering, cook up your bacon in a separate pan, and then add it to the pot.
Puree everything in the pot either in the blender, cuisinart, or (if you're lucky like me) your immersion blender. When you feel it's been mixed to your taste, put the put of soup back on the stove and add the second can of black beans and kidney beans, the mole sauce, and the brown sugar.
Add the red wine vinegar (stir and taste at 2 Tbsp, and only add the 3rd if you think it needs more of a kick). If you think it needs more heat, shake in some cayenne pepper until it's hot enough for you
When your meat is good and ready, add it to the pot. If you have time, let it sit over night in the fridge and then reheat in the crock pot.

Enjoy!

-The Champion

ok so i eat a lot. what.

Today a friend and I went in search of soup and salad for lunch. It's a blustery day here in Seattle and that just sounded good. Cruising down 4th Avenue, we saw a sign swinging in the gusty rain:

We both got bowls of the soup du jour: French Onion (bien sur). They brought it to us in those heavy indestructable white ceramic bowls I remember from my time in Paris, and served the bread on the side rather than toasted and crusted under the gruyere in the bowl where it would get soggy (much appreciated by me).

It was the best damn French onion soup I've tasted. Ever. Run, don't walk, to get yourself a bowl.

That is all.

Dear Deb of Smitten Kitchen, I Love You.

Now I want to talk about food. I'm thinking about all of the delicious things I want to make but can't because they require an oven or a stove.

I made the poor decision of turning on my oven last night. I had my heart set on pizza, because I'd made some pizza dough out of Cooking Light July and nothing else would do. MISTAAAAAAAAKE! The pizza itself was delicious, but what a dumb idea to preheat my oven to 500 and bake a pizza! Who does that when it's 92 in the SHADE? Apparently, I do.

I think we'll be grilling out today, if we can stand that heat outside. I have a million hot dog buns left over from my birthday BBQ, so that seems the right way to go. But what I reeeeeeeally want to do is browse Smitten Kitchen and choose a recipe from her stock to try. For those of you who don't know, Deb of SK is the best food blogger out there. She is the Barefoot Contessa of the blog world: simple, delicious recipes made accessible to cooks of all levels. When I didn't know what to do with my remaining half a roasted chicken, I looked to Deb for a chicken and dumplings recipe that ended up being one of the most delicious meals I've ever eaten (I improvised a little and left out the tarragon because that's what I do). She is a constant source of culinary inspiration to me. Oh, hell; I'm going to browse her recipes anyway and daydream.