Happy Valentine's Day

I am not joking when I say this was one of the BEST meals of my life.  So amazingly delicious!  I can take no credit in this portion of the meal so, I cant offer any tips, but if you follow this link: This Way to Meaty Goodness it'll have you well on your way to happiness.

However...I did make the miso soup and choose the beer.  Lucky for me, Alton Brown's recipes don't need any alterations.  Miso HUNGRY!

Fork tender.  Oh man...I'm salivating just thinking about it.

Another fan of Valentine's Day rib dinner???

CHEWEE!!

Green Tea Madeleines

My boyfriend asked me what I wanted for dinner for Valentine's Day and, without hesitation, I told him I wanted these ribs I had been eyeballing in my Bon Apetit for at least six weeks or so.  Orange Soy Glazed Ribs (don't worry...I will post pictures and a link to the recipe next).  Yum-my!  So, he said, okay...I make dinner, you make dessert.  So, I immediately knew I wanted to make something to go with the somewhat Asian theme of the ribs.  Green tea instantly popped into my brain.  And I thought of these babies.  Since I had no desire to leave the house last night, I had the Matcha sent next day thru Amazon.  Silly, I know, but the belly wants what the belly wants.

Instructions:  (which I found...HERE!)

Ingredients:

2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon – 1 1/2 teaspoons matcha powder
pinch of salt
1 cup of all-purpose flour
10 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1 - Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour madeleine pans well. (the first batch I made I buttered and floured and I didn't like how they came out.  Mine turned out much better just using a light cooking spray.)

2 - Melt butter, set aside to cool. 

3 - Beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer till blended. Beat in vanilla, 1 teaspoon matcha powder, and salt. Add additional half teaspoon of matcha till batter is desired color. Add flour and beat until just blended.

4 - Gradually add cooled melted butter to mixture, beating until just blended.

5 - Spoon one tablespoon of batter into each cake shell. Bake until puffed and edges are lightly golden, about 12-15 minutes (start checking after about 10 minutes.  They tend to go from perfect to overdone really quickly.). Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and finishing cooling on a wire rack.

Cheddar, Beer, and Mustard Pull-Apart Bread

I am a total carb freak!  I love bread.  Sweet bread.  Cheesy bread.  Bread bread BREAD!!  I could eat it all day everyday.  Seriously, my boyfriend has to stop me from eating just toast for dinner.  So, needless to say, when I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen I was beyond excited!  I had planned on making this to eat with the delicious chili I had made, but failed to read the instructions completely (which, embarassingly, happens way too often.), so, we had it for "dessert".

Instructions:

Bread
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1/3 beer (the recipe calls for dark beer, but you can use whatever you have around)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup rye flour (use additional all -purpose flour if you don’t have this)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (or 1 envelope) instant yeast
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs, room temperature

Filling
3 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Dijon or a mustard of your choice
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Dash of hot sauce
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Several grinds black pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar

Make dough: 

1 - In a small saucepan, heat the 4 tablespoons butter and 1/4 cup of beer, just until the butter has melted. Remove from heat and add the remaining 1/3 cup beer. Set aside to cool down slightly. You want the mixture warm (110 to 116 degrees), but not steaming hot.

2 - Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together 2 cups of the all-purpose flour, sugar, yeast and table salt. With the mixer on low, pour in the butter-beer mixture, mixing only until the flour is moistened. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined. The batter will look lumpy, but will become smooth in a moment. Add the remaining 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and all of the rye flour, mixing until just combined. Replace paddle with a dough hook and let the machine knead the dough for 3 to 4 minutes on low.

3 - Oil a medium/large bowl and transfer dough to it. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside for 50 to 60 minutes, until doubled. Meanwhile, prepare fillings.

[Do ahead: You can also rest the dough in the fridge overnight -- wrapped tightly with plastic. The next day, let it rest at room temperature for an hour before rolling out.]

Make fillings: (I did these next two steps right before it was time to roll out the dough.)

1 - Back in the same small saucepan you used for the butter and beer, melt the 3 tablespoons butter. Remove from heat and whisk in mustard, Worcestershire and hot sauce until smooth. Set aside.

2 - In the bottom of a medium bowl, stir together mustard powder, paprika, table salt and several grinds of black pepper. Add shredded cheddar and toss until grated strands are evenly coated with spices.

Assemble bread: 

1 - Either coat a 9-by-5 loaf pan lightly with butter or a nonstick spray and set aside.

2 - Turn dough out onto a well-floured counter and roll the dough into a 20-by-12-inch rectangle, making sure it doesn’t stick to the counter by lifting sections and re-flouring the counter as needed. Brush the butter-mustard-Worcestershire mixture evenly over the whole surface, right up to the edges. Cut the dough crosswise into 4 strips (the original recipe says five strips but I did 4 and it worked out fine.  Also, later, when cutting the stacks, it makes it easier); each should be 12-by-4 inches. Sprinkle the first one evenly with a heaping 1/4 cup of the grated cheese. Gently place another strip on top of it, coat it with another heaping 1/4 cup of cheese, and repeat with remaining strips until they are stacked 5-high and all of the cheese is used.

3 - This is how the original recipe instructs you to do this next part:  With your very sharpest serrated knife, gently — so gently! The lightest sawing motions the weight of the blade will allow! — cut your stack into 6 to 7 2-inch segments (each stacked segment should be 4-by-2 inches).  I used my pastry cutter to do this part and it worked great!

4 - Arrange stacks of dough down the length of your prepared loaf pan as if filling a card catalog drawer. This was made easier by standing my loaf pan up on its short end.

5 - Loosely cover the pan with more plastic wrap and set it aside to rise again for 30 to 45 more minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.6 - Bake loaf for 25 to 35 minutes, until puffed and brown. Transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool for 5 minutes before flipping it out onto a serving plate/cutting board.

This is best to serve warm because it pulls apart better.  However, if you serve it cold it can be sliced.

It's been a while...

After a long hiatus, I'm back!  I have some amazing new inspiration and a new toy to play with!  Thanks to a very generous gift from some VERY generous people!  :)

Stay tuned....

Chicken Tikka Masala

I blame Gordon Ramsey and Instant Netflix for our constant, nagging craving for Indian food.  Well, that and the fact that it's absolutely delicious.  We've been trying to eat out a lot less so I knew if I wanted to eat it I would have to make it.  I started out with something pretty simple and something I've had before so I knew what the finished product was supposed to taste like.  I also decided it wasn't right to have Chicken Tikka without delicious Naan to go with it, so, I found a recipe for that.  The Naan was a little bit more difficult to do because I'm not good with dough.  Any kind of dough.  So, it wasn't as pretty as it should be, but it tasted just as good.

Chicken Tikka Masala (from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients: (I rarely ever measure when I'm using spices unless I'm baking, so, this is really just a guideline to follow for the spices you use.  I tripled the spices because Indian food has such bold flavors.)

• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 4 long skewers

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 3 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat a skillet to medium heat.  Add cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne to skillet and allow to heat until fragrant.
2. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.  If using wooden skewers, allow them to soak in water while chicken is marinating.
3. Remove chicken from refrigerator and bring to room temperature.
4. Preheat a grill for high heat.
5. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.  If you don't have a grill, use the oven on the broil setting.
6. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 3 teaspoons salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Mint Raita (from epicurious.com)

(you may want to make this night before)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
• 1/2 cup packed mint leaves
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Drain yogurt in a paper-towel-lined sieve set over a bowl, chilled, 3 hours.
   
2. Pulse all ingredients in a blender until mint is finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and chill, covered, at least 3 hours.
   

For the Naan I will just put the link I used for the recipe because there is an instructional video to help with the forming of the Naan.  Manjulas Kitchen - Naan

Bacon and Date (...or fig!) Scones

It is such a treat for both my boyfriend and I when I have the time to make these. An added bonus when we get to sleep in and enjoy them on our day off. For me, this is such a perfect balance of sweet and savory. Even more so than the chocolate/bacon combination. The consistency and texture of the finished scone is practically perfect. Not too moist, not too dry and just the right amount of crumble. And, yes, I know some of you think I may overuse bacon in my recipes but, I don’t care! I love it and it loves me…

(The original recipe calls for dates, which I used the first time I made this. Both taste good but each has a different degree of sweetness and adds a different texture. For this particular batch I used figs, which made it much much sweeter than using dates. If you’re going to go with the figs I suggest chopping it very fine and maybe not use as much as the recipe calls for. )

Ingredients (recipe taken from March 2011 Bon Apetit):

• 10 ounces thick-cut bacon slices
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped pitted dates (or 1/2 cup finely chopped figs)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter (I suggest sticking it in the freezer for about five minutes and then taking it out when you are going to use it)
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• Raw sugar

Directions:

1 - Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until cooked through but still tender and not crisp, turning occasionally. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain and cool. Pour bacon drippings from skillet into small heatproof bowl and reserve.

2 - Whisk flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Coarsely chop cooled bacon. Add bacon and dates (or figs) to flour mixture; toss to coat. Coarsely grate butter into flour mixture. Using fork, stir in butter. Add buttermilk; stir until large moist clumps form. Using hands, knead briefly in bowl until dough forms.

3 - Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. Pat into 8-inch round. Cut into 8 wedges. Transfer scones to baking sheets. Cover and chill scones 2 hours.

4 - Heat oven to 400*. Remove scones from refrigerator. Brush with reserved bacon drippings. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake scones until golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean. About 16 to 18 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Banana Nutella Won Tons

I seriously wish I could eat these everyday. They are so delicious and so easy to make. I served them with fresh made whipped cream and it was perfect. All you do is spoon as much or as little Nutella as your heart desire on to won ton wrapper, then place a slice of banana about 3/4” thick on top of that, seal the wonton, fry for a minute or two….and VOILA! Nutella Banana Won Tons. Be sure not to fill it too much because you wont be able to seal it well then all of the delicious goodness will ooze out of the won ton and end up in your oil instead of in your belly.