A Few of My Favorite Things

I am all for using a generic brand when it's as good as the name brand (this is especially true for over-the-counter medicines - the generics often have the same exact ingredients for half the price). For some products it doesn't really matter which brand I get. But for others, I am pretty particular.

Two of those I discovered in the past year or so. I had been buying another brand of these things forever, or at least since I've been an adult doing my own grocery shopping. I guess it's easy to fall into the shopping patterns of your family and use the same brands they used. To this I say -- branch out people! Forge your own path through the grocery store. Ok, it may not be exactly revolutionary behavior, but you might find some new favorites.

Let's talk pancake mix. I do not make my own pancake mix. Sure, I could, but why would I when there is Hungry Jack Buttermilk mix? I used to buy the other popular brand, but one day I was in a store and they were out of it. I bought Hungry Jack that time and have stuck with it ever since. You really can taste a difference and the Hungry Jack mix makes a lighter, fluffier pancake. Sometimes for dinner I make pancakes with cooked crumbled sausage and shredded cheese mixed into the batter. You don't need a recipe for this, Just add what you think looks like a good amount of each and be sure to use whatever cheese you like. We serve these with a fruit syrup. We use pancake mix to make cheeseburger pie and for a quick pot pie too.

My other good find was Comet rice. It takes longer than five minutes, but it is so worth it. You can spare 15-20 minutes to make this rice. It's a bit stickier than the minute rices, which I like. We also like to add extras to our rice to boost the flavor, such as lime zest and a bit of cilantro. When you are cooking rice longer than five minutes, it really gives the extra flavors a chance to take hold.

Besides getting me to write, one reason I do this blog is to keep myself from staying in a cooking rut. Hopefully I'll be able to add some new found favorite things along the way.

Palmiers -- kind of like bread but better

I love a good bread to serve with a big salad, or soup, or pretty much anything. I made these Palmiers to go with a pasta dinner one night. I am pretty sure we shouldn't have eaten all of them in one sitting, but we did. I used a couple different recipes as a guide and ended up making my own version. The recipe uses frozen puff pastry. I take help wherever I can get it and if it's good enough for real chefs, it's good enough for me. One thing that is worth doing yourself though is grating the Parmesan cheese. Buy a block -- it lasts a good while in the fridge. The difference in taste between what you grate yourself and the stuff that comes in the green plastic jar is amazing. If you're going to try this recipe, make sure you leave time for the dough to chill after you've worked with it.

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 (17.3-ounce) box frozen puff pastry, thawed (recommended: Pepperidge Farms)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup shredded Italian cheese blend (or a little more...)
Dried oregano or other Italian seasonings 

Directions:
Sprinkle work surface with some of the grated Parmesan cheese. Unfold a thawed sheet of puff pastry on top of the cheese. Brush the pastry with egg wash made from 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water.

Combine 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese and shredded Italian cheese blend. Sprinkle over the surface. Sprinkle your desired amount of dried oregano or other Italian seasonings (a teaspoon or so should be enough). Press into the pastry.

Roll one of the long sides into the middle; repeat with the other side so that they meet in the middle. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut 1/8-inch thick slices, starting at shortest edge. Dip flat faces of palmiers in remaining Parmesan and lay on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Corned Beef, soda bread and Car Bomb Cupcakes?

I had a hard time narrowing down the title for this one. The close second, I guess I could call it a subtitle, is "Boys are so cute when they bake."

We don't eat corned beef and we don't really make traditional Irish fare for St. Patrick's Day but this year, Jeffrey had the idea to make these Car Bomb Cupcakes. The recipe uses Guinness, Bailey's and Jameson Irish whiskey. Let me say right up front here that they were delicious. Really really scrumptious.

There is Guinness in the dark chocolate cupcake. Bailey's goes in the chocolate ganache filling and Bailey's and Jameson are in the butter cream frosting. Jeffrey is a really good cook and does not need my help in the kitchen, though we really enjoy cooking together. This recipe was all him. I only wandered out into the kitchen when there were crashes or yelling. Like this time with the flour. I'll admit that I make my own share of messes in the kitchen, but I think people are used to that from me.

I just kept shaking my head because he was so determined. He carried on and finished making his batter. When he had it mixed and ready to bake, he put the cupcake papers in the muffin pans. The recipe said to pour the batter into the cups, but he used a spoon, which was probably a much better idea. But it was still a mess. Some of the cups had just a little batter while others were full to the top. There was batter all over the top of the muffin pans and one poor would-be cupcake was demolished before it even had a chance. I helped even them out a little and rescued the poor imploded one and then he baked them. We had to go out for a while so we left them to cool. When we got back, he made the ganache filling and the frosting. I did show him how to pipe on just one cupcake and then he did the rest. They looked great and tasted even better. Baking is just obviously not part of his comfort zone. I've been baking since I was 11, so I am just as comfortable baking as cooking (though I can't make a Lemon Meringue Pie....see this story in a future post). I'm glad Jeffrey made these and I hope he gets more comfortable with the more delicate culinary arts -- he does a great, if messy, job.

Time for my own French revolution

I watch a lot of cooking shows. I like to get ideas for new meals to try so we won't live in a culinary rut. And I learn about ingredients I never heard of before but might actually be able to find within driving distance now that there is a Whole Foods in Wilmington. One thing I have learned is that five French sauces, the Mother sauces, are at the root of so many good dishes. They are "the splendor and glory of French cooking," according to Julia Child. The sauces are tomato, Bechamel, Veloute, Espagnole, and Hollandaise.

One of the shows I discovered a while back is French Food at Home. And then I finally watched Julie and Julia, a movie that follows a writer as she works her way through the entire Julia Child cookbook. I loved the movie, especially learning more about Julia Child. I wish I could have met her -- sounds like she was my kind of lady. Anyway, all the signs were pointing to France and I decided it was time to branch out as a cook.

So I bought Mastering the Art of French Cooking. But there was no testing the waters slowly for me. I started right in with a Buerre Blanc sauce. Don't let the fancy name scare you off. It's basically a butter sauce with some shallots, butter, white wine, vinegar or lemon juice and more butter. And then you add butter. It really is velvety, creamy and so luscious that you won't even remember what you served the sauce on (fish or chicken is standard). It was not hard to make at all. Julia does say the recipe can be made lighter by not adding all the butter. I made it full fat the first time, but will definitely bring it down a few notches the next time. It was absolutely divine but almost too much.

I won't copy the movie character. I do love a challenge, but I do not love cauliflower, so I will not be making every recipe in the book. This cookbook is a great addition to my collection though. It's not just a book of recipes. She explains methods and what to look for in buying your ingredients. It's more conversational than traditional cookbooks, which makes it seem like Julia is in your kitchen, looking over your shoulder as you cook. The recipes also often include serving instructions, like noting that a certain meal is often served at the table in the pot or suggesting what kind of casserole dish to use. That's what I enjoy most about this cookbook. It makes the Art of cooking fit comfortably into real life -- and that's exactly what I love to do.

Julia Child's Buerre Blanc:
Ingredients
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 tablespoons dry white wine
2 tablespoons finely minced shallots
Salt and white pepper
2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 16 pieces

Directions
In a 1 1/2 quart saucepan combine vinegar, wine, shallots, salt and white pepper and bring to a simmer.

Gently simmer liquid until reduced to 1 1/2 tablespoons. Remove from heat and immediately swirl or whisk in 2 pieces of chilled butter. As the butter is incorporated into the liquid add another piece and continue to swirl or whisk. Return pan to low heat and while constantly swirling or whisking add successive pieces of butter. When all of the butter has been added remove from heat. Sauce will be thick and creamy. Adjust seasoning to taste. Serve immediately. To hold the sauce, set the pan in a larger pan of lukewarm water. If the sauce separates, transfer a spoonful of the sauce to a cold mixing bowl and gradually whisk the rest of the sauce in by the spoonful. The sauce can be reheated by gradually whisking 2 to 3 tablespoons of hot liquid, i.e. water, cream or stock.

The Great It's Almost Umbrella Drink Weather Giveaway

Spring is almost here. That means grilling more, eating on the back porch and enjoying fruity adult beverages. It's been a cold winter and we are ready for some strong sunshine and enjoying the outdoors.

To help celebrate Spring's imminent arrival, we're teaming up with our favorite bloggers -- my better half Jeffrey, who pens Pooh Sticks and our good friend Jen, who writes Sartor, for a great giveaway of fabulous prizes. You could be the lucky winner of a fine set of 2 Tiki Mugs, a set of Guinness pint glasses or your very own set of Pooh Sticks.

There are lots of ways to enter -- you could be asked to post a comment or follow a Pinterest page. Just follow this link and get signed up. Good Luck!

Fat Tuesday Oak Island style

We had plans for Fat Tuesday this year, but when they fell through, friends invited us over for dinner. We decided to do a Gourmet (sort of) Pancake Bar for dinner.

I got right to work researching pancake toppings. I found a couple of really helpful sites, like http://foodiesunite.com/2011/02/102-pancake-toppings-for-national-pancake-day/. Pancakes are pretty plain on their own, so there are so many toppings options. What to choose, what to choose...

I settled on a range of toppings. We'd have plain maple syrup, strawberry syrup, fruit and whipped cream for

the pancake novices. Then some cinnamon honey butter and blueberry honey butter for the slightly more sophisticated palates. And why not ginger-infused maple syrup served with peaches or some rum-soaked bananas? But there had to be one over-the-top selection: shallot thyme butter, smoked salmon, Greek yogurt (instead of sour cream) and chives. Let me just say that this shallot thyme butter has not made its last appearance in our kitchen. In fact tonight we topped our steaks with it (see recipe below). I think it would also be great on green beans, asparagus or most any kind of vegetable. 

Misty was a great sport. She is not very adventurous when it comes to food, but she did try the smoked salmon. She spit it out immediately, but she did try it. I'm glad I didn't suggest caviar.

Of everything we had, it seems the strawberries with whipped cream and the blueberry honey butter were the people's choice. My personal favorites were the ginger syrup and the shallot thyme butter with smoked salmon.

Jeff loved the rum-soaked bananas so much that he finished off the extra at the end of the night. (We used Captain Morgan's Black Spiced Rum. I will never drink another kind of spiced rum again. Ever. It is that good.) That's the ginger syrup in the Guinness glass in this picture - I had to transport everything and I wanted it to still be pour-able.

To round out the meal, there was bacon and sausage and grits. I actually ate, and for the first time in my life, even liked the grits. I am calling the night a great success and I hope we do it all over again next year. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Shallot Thyme Butter
8 tablespoons butter at room temperature (1 stick)
2 medium to large shallots
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
salt and pepper (I used Kosher salt)

Melt 1-2 tablespoons butter in heavy small skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until brown, about 4 minutes. Cool. Combine remaining 6-7 tablespoons butter and thyme in small bowl. Add shallot mixture and blend well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.