Saucy Tart

Baking and cooking require time, technique and personality. If you haven't guessed already, I'm not a detail-oriented person and I love recipies that allow creativity in presentation. So rather than putting together a tart (often these look like super-glazed thin pies with meticulously arranged fruit designs on top), I like baking galettes. A galette is the messy version of a tart. And it sounds so French. So fancy. So now we make a free-form tart, using the following technique, and involving ANYTHING you want for the filling (I'll explain later).

Savory Galette Appetizer:

• 1 frozen pie crust
• Crumbled fresh goat cheese or crumbled gorgonzola (small package)
• 6 or more fresh ripe plums or figs
• Fresh thyme or rosemary
• Splash of olive oil, pinch of salt and sugar if needed

Lay out the frozen pie crust on a cookie sheet. In the end, we want to fold the edges up and over the filling, by about an inch. Crumble a generous layer of cheese into the middle of the pie crust. Chop and crumble a nice amount of fresh thyme or rosemary on top of this layer. In a bowl, combine thinly sliced fruit, olive oil and salt. Taste and add sugar if needed, based on sweetness of the fruit. Put the fruit on top of cheese in a thin layer and wrap the edges of the crust up and around the fruit. Pop it in the oven at 375 for about 40 minutes, maybe more(check it after 30 to make sure the crust isn't overcooked). This is soooooo good. I made it last night for a dinner party and tried three different combinations. Goat cheese gets really creamy when it is cooked, but the flavor of the gorgonzola and figs with rosemary was the crowd favorite.

Now the great thing is that this Galette idea is super simple, and can be modified to be a dessert. Thinly slice apples. Add cinnamon and sugar, perhaps some currants too. Add about two tablespoons of flour. Toss and use this as your filling. The only secret you need to know is that when you use a runny fruit (apples get really juicy when you cook them - and peaches may just not work for this), you need to add some flour. Otherwise you will have serious issues with the crust, and may have a big puddle in your oven when you're done.

Going Bananas for the Bread

I had a request today! I'm heading over to a bbq reunion tomorrow with my leadership class, and we're all assigned to bring either a dessert or an app. My friend asked me to bring my infamously fabulous banana bread. I was of course flattered, but also a little embarrassed. It's so easy to make!

The only trick is to have some super-ripe bananas on hand. At a minimum the bananas should have dark speckles on the skin. For sugar content, for consistency, and for other reasons too I bet. For this reason, banana bread is something that demands to be made, rather than being able to seek it out. One rather gross but completely effective alternative is to freeze your bananas as you go. Before they rot, stick them in the freezer, and let them defrost before you begin this recipe. I've saved them for up to two months and they are totally fine. Be prepared though- the skins turn black in the freezer and look disgusting.

• 3 really ripe bananas


• 1/4 cup nonfat sour cream


• 2 eggs


• 6 tablespoons butter


• 1 tsp vanilla

(Mash the bananas well, and add the rest of the ingredients above in a large bowl)

• 2 cups flour


• 3/4 cup sugar


• 3/4 tsp baking soda


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Without stirring, put all these ingredients in the bowl- on top of the wet mixture. Give a superficial stir to the dry ingredients to make sure the soda and salt are mixed into the other dry ingredients. After this is done, then softly mix the entire bowl (Yes! ONE bowl to clean!!). If this, or any, dough is mixed too long, it will become very dense and chewy (like pizza dough, which is thrown around the room before it is baked). We don't want that here. So mix it only until you have to!

Pour this mixture into a greased loaf pan and pop it in the oven for probably 55 minutes on 350. Baking requires a much more evenly heated oven than cooking, so I suggest turning the pan every 20 minutes or so. The toothpick test (or a clean knife) can be used to see if this is done- if it comes out looking pretty clean, you're done. Isn't it embarrassingly simple???

Recipe from The Dinner Party: Smoked Salmon Pate Crostini

You wouldn't guess it by the way I've been totally obsessed with the main dish from The Big Dinner Party, but there were other courses. So, let's talk about the first course, which was Smoked Salmon Pate Crostini. I know, it sounds very posh, but it was easy peasy. Here's what you do:

Slice some French bread thinly, whatever width and length you'd like. Spray a cookie sheet with some sort of lubricant (I use spray olive oil), put the bread on it, and bake it until semi crispy, about 15 minutes at 300 degrees. Take it out and let it cool.

Meanwhile, use a food processor to mix the following:

* 6 oz. smoked salmon
* 3 oz. cream cheese
* 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
* freshly ground pepper to taste

Also, finely chop half of a white onion and put it in a mixing bowl. Once you've blended the other ingredients, dump that mixture into the bowl with the onions and mix well.

Smooth the spread onto the toasted French bread, which is now called crostini (see? fancy!). For the final flourish, chop some cilantro (or anything else green and pretty) and sprinkle on top.

Serve with a crispy Sauvignon Blanc!

Fancy-Schmancy Dinner Party

I'm sure you're wondering how the dinner party went, and while I'm still recovering from it, I can at least give you a quick overview:
When we last visited this subject, I was still toying around with ideas on how to do the deconstructed Beef Wellington. I came up with a solution that worked and it tasted wonderful, but was really ugly, as you can see in the photo. Here's what I did:
I cut puff pastry sheets into four squares each (I had ten guests, but made twelve in case some came out badly) and draped them over upside-down ramekins placed on a cookie sheet. I cooked them until golden. I also made a mushroom duxelle, with criminis, onion, basil and garlic. As for the filet mignon, I marinated them in red wine, olive oil, garlic, soy sauce and worcestershire sauce for a few hours. Then, about an hour before guests arrived, I put the filets in a couple of large skillets and sauteed them for about five minutes. I turned the heat off, let the pans cool down, then threw them in the fridge for two hours. When we were ready to serve the filets, I put them back on the stove, on high heat, for another seven minutes, turning once. I then placed them in the puff pastry cups, topped with the duxelle.
The taste? Simply divine. The look? Simply tragic. Because of the wine, the duxelle was purple. The filets were odd-shaped because I didn't think about making them round and holding them together with toothpicks. So, I will continue to play with this recipe, trying to find a way to make them prettier. Garnish ideas, anyone?

Cheater's Chili

I have a friend who makes a big, grand, fabulous-smelling entrance at football game parties, fall bbq's and other potluck events with his huge crockpot of homemade chili. I mean this stuff is spicy and tender and just the ultimate pot of yummy. Finally I hear the secret-- "... okay well you start with a base of CANNED chili and doctor it up". Now, I don't know if you've ever seen canned dog food, but this is basically what he starts with. Chili from a can!? Unacceptable.

There are really, really hard and lengthy recipies for chili. In fact, there are insanely large prizes at local, state and nationally televised chili cook-off competitions. Chili is an art and a science, with true connoiseurs and a practically-cult following. This dish is on the limited list of "manly" potluck dishes. So if you know absolutely nothing about how to make it, don't cry like a sissy. Read below and see how very simple life can be. It can become your foundation to create your own little chili-man legacy.

Cheater's Chili:

• 1 pound of lean ground meat (you can use turkey here as a healthier alternative, or go for the real thing- beef)


• 2 - 14oz cans of kidney beans that have been rinsed of all goo


• 1 - 14oz can of tomato sauce


• Splash (or more) of red wine


• 1 chopped cooking onion (yellow, of a medium-ish size. Cut this to pieces that are the same size as your pinkie fingernail)


• 3 cloves of garlic (crushed with a garlic press or chopped till they are mush)


• 2 teaspoons of chili powder (buy it and you'll use it for everything - a cheap and good investment)


• Salt and pepper

Here's the secret: chili is basically spaghetti sauce with beans. Chili without beans could be easily poured over pasta and be called an italian slow-simmer sauce, especially if you added some oregano, tarragon or basil. So basically, chili is meat sauce with different spices. So the real lesson today is, "how to make a meat sauce". In this case, with chili powder and beans. But think of the base as a completely adjustable canvas that you can paint with lots of different colors.

Back to the cooking-- you know the most important thing to me is to get it done in the shortest amount of time possible, with the least amount of steps, and with the biggest applause at the end. Hmmm.... now that I think of it, that's basically the motto of my whole life. But I digress. The first step here is to brown the things that need to be browned. If you put the meat in first, the natural juice would create water in the pan that makes it harder to brown your onions, so we do onions first.

Throw the onions into a large saucepan with a teaspoon of olive oil, over high heat. Continue to stir and brown for a couple minutes, or until the smell changes to be less spicy and more sweet. Throw in your crushed garlic and a splash of red wine.

To this mixture, add the ground meat. Season with a small amount of salt and a bigger amount of pepper. Continue stirring until you have removed all pink from the meat. Now turn the burner to medium, pour in the sauce and the beans, and continue cooking.

"Her emotions simmered below the surface". What does simmering really mean? Because that's what we need to do now with this sauce. Simmering, first of all, is generally done on low or almost-low heat. To simmer is to have a movement of your sauce, but no bubbles. So you're at a lower heat than boiling, but your sauce isn't sitting still. The traditional cooking method to achieve solid simmering is to bring it up to a boil then turn it down. This creates a universal heat that will continue... yes you guessed it.... below the surface. So get this baby pissed off at you for a good 20 minutes, and up to an hour or more. Your beans will start falling apart if you go too long, so really this is another quick timeline for preparation.

So this is the most simple and basic version of chili that you can possibly create. Feel free to change up the beans (remove them, use other kinds, whatever), throw in some different spices (try fresh hot peppers from the store, but test each before you add), use different meat (ground beef is just a start- people use all kinds of meats in this including steak or the ultra fatty/fabulous rib meat). This is a totally basic recipe, so you're going to want to garnish this to make it appear fabulous to the naked eye. Luckily, chili is one of the best foods to garnish, besides the potato of course. Pull out the shredded cheddar (or other exotic cheese to really entice), the sour cream (cool and tangy), chopped onions (green are pretty), strips of bbq steak (mouth watering), really cold beer (wow). This was the first meal I cooked on my own. I give it to you. You can't screw it up - promise.

Flaming Yawn

Or, Filet Mignon, as it's properly spelled. I went to Costco today (retail Disneyland!), shopping for beef for The Big Dinner this weekend. I looked at the ribeyes, sirloins and anything else that was red, but was uninspired. The only thing that caught my eye was the filet mignon, but the price was prohibitive. But then I saw the Beef Tenderloin, which is basically a beef log, made up of tenderloin, which you just cut up yourself, at a substantial savings. Now, all I have to do is cut off the junky stuff and slice it into 2-inch thick rounds. I'll also throw them into zip-top bags with my standard red wine marinade, as these guys aren't as big on flavor as they are on tenderness.

While I'm here, I might as well tell you about my thoughts on how I'm going to prepare this particular dish. Because I'm doing a three course tasting menu with wine pairings, I'm not going to be able to hang out in the kitchen while these steaks are cooking. I'm thinking I might use the principals outlined in the procedure for Beef Wellington: sear the meat, then chill it until ready to use, then cook it in the oven. I think I'll ask Dad. (BTW, if you haven't met Dad, I'll introduce you to him later, but suffice it to say he's where I get my cooking craziness.)

Any suggestions? Use the comments function at the end of this post; I'd love to hear what you think!

Upcoming Cookery

I'm throwing a fancy-schmancy dinner party for my husband this weekend (it's his birthday), and I thought I'd share my battle plan. He recently was awarded a magnum of Clos du Val 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, and I want to build a dinner around it. Three courses, wine pairings with each, and the grand finale with the cab. Here's my strategy:

1st Course: Salmon Pate Crostini with Source Napa Sauvignon Blanc

2nd Course: Shallot and Heirloom Tomato Salad with a Pinot Noir (TBD)

3rd Course: Sirloin in Puff Pastry with Mushroom Duxelle and THE CAB

Yes, it all sounds very fabulous, but if you really pay attention, it's not hard to do. I'll get someone to take pictures on Saturday, and soon after that I'll let you know how I did it, what pitfalls to avoid, and what garnish was the best!

Summer Drinky-Poo

Because I'm posting this on a Saturday, and it's a beautiful warm day, I'm of course going to post something alcoholic. But, when it's warm, and you want to be social without turning into a slobbering fool, you want to be careful with the hard stuff. With that in mind, I give you: The Sparkling Pomegranate Cocktail. Yes, it's been done before, and no, I don't think I'm being original. What makes mine special? The GARNISH! Check it out:

For One Pitcher:

1 glass pitcher

2 ice cube trays

1 lemon

1/2 bottle sparkling wine, chilled

8 oz. pomegranate juice, chilled

This is going to take a bit of advance planning, but other than that, it's easy.

Run your pitcher under some cold water, wetting thoroughly, and put it in the freezer, preferably not touching anything.

Fill the ice cube trays with cold water. Peel your lemon, attempting to keep the peels around the same size, cutting them if you have to, so you end up with enough small pieces to put one into each ice cube tray. Put them into the water-filled trays, and put the trays into the freezer. It'll take a couple hours to freeze, so make sure you have plenty of time before your guests come over.

When the ice cubes are frozen, dump one tray into the pitcher. Add the pomegranate juice, then slowly, slowly, SLOWLY...pour in the sparkling wine. If you do it fast, it'll bubble over and you'll lose some of the sparkling wine, and a waste of alcohol is just tragic.

Serve!

You'll notice we have another tray of ice cubes, half a bottle of sparkling and some pom juice left over, right? That's for your next pitcher! Enjoy!

***Other Garnish Idea: You can go with an organic pomegranate juice, which impresses the eco-crowd, or you can use a fancy sparkling if you're having grown-ups over. And, if you want to get really crazy, use Meyer lemons.

Super fast weekday grilling

Grilling Basics: Chicken and Asparagus

This is my favorite summertime dinner. If you use the right techniques, it is really fantastic and fast. It's 'low-carb' too. Unless you pair it up with a bottle of white wine. On your way home from work, swing by the store and grab a few chicken breasts of the same size (bone in/out and skin on/off is entirely up to you) and a bundle of asparagus. If you don't have fresh lemon and garlic at home, pick up some of those too.

Put your chicken in either a big ziplock bag or a pan to marinate. Prep the asparagus by washing and snapping off the bottoms, lay out in a pan. In a small bowl—combine the following and pour most of it on to the chicken, the rest on to the asparagus. Let this all sit a few minutes for a quick and fresh marinade.

• 2-3 cloves of garlic, pressed. If you don’t have a press, chop it until it’s mush
  


• The juice of a full lemon
  


• If you have a grater, use the finest grate and put a little of the yellow (only yellow, not the bitter white part) rind of the lemon into the mix
  


• Olive oil – judge how much lemon juice you have in your bowl and pour in a bit less than that of the oil
  


• Salt – not too much! Sea salt is really good here, but a little goes a long way.
  


• Pepper – same thing.

Throw the chicken on a hot (med-high) grill. Wait about 5 minutes (good dark grill marks), flip the chicken, and put the asparagus on a low-medium heat. These veges always cook slower than you think- I expect them to be done in two minutes but they take actually probably closer to 5-10 minutes. The chicken may take 15, so that’s why we put it on first.

With the asparagus, we’re aiming to create a nice charred taste, with minimal blackness. If you stick them on higher heat, they’ll become completely black. If you like them a little raw, don’t let them wilt too much, or if you like them fully cooked, wait until they flop when you pick one up.

Here’s what I have learned about grilling meat: don’t ever, ever use a fork or knife– use tongs or a flipper. If you break the outside crust you’ll lose juice the entire rest of the cooking time. And tongs make a great meat thermometer. When you squeeze, does the meat have any give? If it is really firm, it’s way overcooked. If it squeezes and seems jiggly, it’s raw in the middle still. Squeezing your meat isn’t bad for it at all so play with this. Love it. Learn it. Live it. And how will you know when it is done? Basically this is a big learning curve thing. So you pull it off and it’s raw? Well, raw is better than overcooked, because you can’t fix overcooked.

Before you celebrate and sit down to eat, give the chicken a good 5-minute rest. Open that bottle of wine. Spray a little more lemon over the asparagus and chicken. Or get fancy and garnish with a bit of fresh tarragon or basil. Delishhhh.

I’m such a blogger. Tee hee.

Hello world- my name is Jen and I am young 30’s (often get carded and have no grey hairs), love my job as a writer, very social/outgoing, currently single… hmmm--- this sounds like a personal ad. Start over. Welcome to our blog- I’m Jen and am here to share my innermost cooking secrets that will basically make you look like a rock star (like me!) without being hard (idiot-proof, not that you are an idiot of course). Jamie is my evil twin, also conspiring to make you look fabulous with smoke and mirrors. Great food isn't as hard as it looks. And if you royally screw things up, well, as we all know, sometimes it is “all about the garnish”….