March 31, 2008

It's Spring! Let's Start Planting!

As I mentioned a month or so ago I've been garden planning! For the past two weeks I've been meaning to get around to planting my seeds indoors to get them going and have a bit of a head start once the frost has passed, but we've been super busy the past few weeks and I feel like I've been going in super fast motion. Every time I think things are going to slow down they seem to speed up! Yesterday I finally got around to planting my seeds.

On Saturday morning I sat down and drew out a few grids and set up what I want to plant and in which hole it would go. For some reason I only did three plots, when in reality I should have done six! I don't know how I got off path, but that was ok. Yesterday morning when I realized my error I made two more grids. I didn't make a plot for the last 40 because I had planned to plant them all as marigolds and I didn't need a grid for that! ;o) I have three greenhouse boxes and each box will hold two trays of 40.

As I worked on the grids Alexis sat with me with her own notebook and made her own diagram. As we planted and I checked things off my grid, she did the same on hers. It amused me! ;o) She is really excited about the planting aspect of the garden this year. Last year she was mildly interested, but she was plenty interested in harvesting! This year she's all about the garden period and I love that! She even chose some seeds of her own to plant, though hers will be planted directly outside in a few weeks. It's so much fun to have her involved. Her zest for life is so contagious!

In the first tray we planted 40 tomatoes (2 Green Zebra , 2 Santiam, 4 Martian Giants, 2 Zapotec Pleated, 3 Amana Orange, 2 Burbank Red, 4 Arkansas Travelers, 2 Yellow Perfection, 4 Brandywines, 5 Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes, 5 Gold Currant Cherrys and and 5 Yellow Pear Cherrys....Alexis loves the mini tomatoes, thus the increased numbers of those varities.) We should have more than enough to share with my sister, some of our friends and be able to can some tomatoes for use through the winter and make some salsa as well.

In the next block we planted peppers, squash, eggplant, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins and amaranth. (2 Purple Beauty bell peppers, 2 Italian Relleno Sweet peppers, 2 Ring-O-Fire Cayenne peppers which I use for pest my pest control spray, 3 Pimento-L Sweet peppers, 4 Cal Wonder green bell peppers, 2 Giant Szegedi yellow sweet peppers, 2 Butternut squash, 3 Zucchinis, 3 Yellow Crookneck squash, 2 Italian Pink Bi-Color eggplants, 3 Smart Pickle cucumbers, 1 Lemon cucumber, 3 Northern Pickling Cucumbers, 1 Crimson Sweet watermelon, 1 Sugar Baby watermelon, 1 Golden Honey watermelon, 1 Desert King watermelon, 1 Hale's Best Jumbo Muskmelon (cantaloupe), 1 Jack-O-Lite pumpkin (small pumpkins), 1 Big Max pumpking (100+ pound pumpkins) and 1 Hopi Red Dye Amaranth.) Alexis and I both are pepper and cucumber fans. I'm going to try and make some dill pickles this year hopefully! I've wanted to do that for years, but in the smaller garden I never seem to have enough pickles to play with.

On the next grid (and this was the last grid I did on Saturday) I plotted herbs, flowers and "medicinals", which in reality are just more herbs or flowering plants in most cases. (3 Poppy Joe's Basils, 2 Forest Green parsleys, 2 English Thyme, 2 Greek Oreganos, 2 Italian Flat Leaf Parsleys, 2 Dukat Dills, 2 Bouquet Dills, 4 Russian Mammoth Sunflowers, 1 Korean Licorice Mint, 1 Borage, 2 Bells of Ireland, 4 Righteous Red Zinnias, 1 Yarrow, 2 Evening Sun Sunflowers, 3 Kablouna Mix Calendulas, 4 White Sweet Alyssum and 3 Feverfews.) I'm glad I had the grids wrong in my head though, because I had wanted to plant more herbs in addition to the ones that we are going to plant directly into pots on my front porch. I added more in the additional grids I did yesterday. I had hoped to plant the pots on the porch today, but it's too rainy. It appears it will rain for a few more days so maybe we'll get to do that later this week.

Yesterday on the first grid I plotted out onions, leeks, celery, broccoli and more herbs. (6 Siskiyou Sweet onions, 8 Sherwood leeks, 6 Celebration celerys, 6 Nutri-Bud broccolis, 2 more Dukat dills, 2 more bouquet dills, 2 more Forest Green parsleys, 2 more Italian Flat Leaf parsleys, 2 more Greek oreganos, 2 more English Thymes and 2 more Poppy Joe's Basils.)

Next up we planted more flowers. (2 more Bells of Ireland, 6 more Righteous Red Zinnias, 6 more Russian Mammoth sunflowers, 6 more Evening Sun sunflowers, 6 more Calendulas, 3 more Yarrows, 3 more Borages, 3 More Korean Licorice Mints and again 5 more Zinnias, because after all they are so beautiful.)

The last of the six trays was seeded with marigolds. I have two huge flower beds in front of our house, so I can't wait to see the riot of color! I labeled the back of each box so I'd know which way was the top of each grid. I also put a label on the foot of each individual plot with what was planted there so that I wouldn't turn things around and then not know what was what.

Now we wait. We should have some sprouting going on by the end of the week. I'm going to be keeping track of this through the seeding on to the garden and then through the fall harvest so if you're interested check back soon for an update! I do an all organic garden as well. and we'll be planting the garden itself in a few weeks. When it warms up even more we'll plant some corn, beans, carrots, okra, etc. directly into the garden. This year most of my seeds came from Seeds of Change, but I also got a few from Gardens Alive and Park Seeds.

So is anyone else planting this spring? I love to hear what other people have planned and are doing so share if you are! :o)

Posted by Dianne at 1:12 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

March 30, 2008

March 2008 Daring Bakers Challenge: Dorie's Perfect Party Cake

It's that time again...Time for the Daring Bakers monthly reveal! This month's recipe was chosen by Morven of Food Art and Random Thoughts and when I saw this month's Daring Bakers Challenge was Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake I was excited! Alexis had been flipping through Baking From My Home Yours and when she saw the cake she told me "I want that for my Tinkerbell birthday party!" So this was the perfect opportunity to try this cake before the big day to see if it would work for what we had in mind. Sadly I'd have to say no on that, but we'll get to that in the minute.

The overall issue many of the Daring Bakers had with this cake was that it did not rise as they had expected. I had the exact opposite problem...It rose too much! In fact it rose so much that the batter spilled over the sides of my cake pans! Luckily I had placed the cake pans on a baking sheet, so it didn't make a mess on the bottom of the oven. But needless to say I didn't have a rising issue, I had a bit too much rise!

I actually made this cake twice. The cake turned out very tender, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but when I removed the cakes from the pan the first go around the second one crumbled as it came out. Not good! I ranted a bit in my head and then decided to put off the next try for a couple of days.

The second try was the one that spilled out over the tops of the pans. This time however they came out of the pans quite easily. The edges had to be trimmed in order to decorate the cake, but that was no big deal. The splitting of each cake into two layers however was not a good adventure. I ended up having to paste some of the pieces back together with icing and that is never a good thing.

Despite the issues I had the cake itself, once decorated and such, looked amazing and it tasted amazing when all put together. I had never made buttercream with the method in this recipe before so that was fun to try, though as I mentioned with my Saint Patrick's Day cupcakes I'm not a fan of butter in icing because I think it's overpowering to the overall flavor, but this was ok for the most part. I wouldn't make it for myself again, but my sister likes buttercream icing with the butter so I might employ it on a cake for her in the future.

Another issue that popped up was that I thought the icing could have been a bit sweeter. The butterflavor was also a bit overwhelming as I mentioned above. This may have been because I ran out of lemon juice as well so I was not able to add that element to the icing and perhaps that would have made a difference. I ended up making two batches of icing because one was not enough to cover and decorate the cake.

Another issue that turned out to be not that big of a deal was that I was not able to find lemon flavoring so I just used lemon juice and I have to say that substitution turned out great! I chose to use blueberry jam in the middle of the layers and as always the lemon and blueberry flavors melded so well together! We had a little leeway to do what we wanted to with this cake and this is the path I chose.

Overall I'd give this cake a B -. I happen to like my standard yellow or white cake recipes much more than this, but it was ok. I could see making it for a fru fru baby or wedding shower or maybe a tea, but for me I think I'll just stick to my tried and true cakes that always get raves and are a bit sturdier in terms of decorating.

Thanks to Morven for hosting this month's challenge. I most definitely learned some new tricks and that is what these challenges are is all about! I can't wait to see what next month's recipe holds!

Update: I forgot to mention that on the first round I used cake flour and buttermilk and while the cakes rose ok, they were too tender and as I mentioned they fell apart. On the second go around I used all purpose flour and whole milk and they ended up over rising. Oh well.

Check out the other Daring Bakers and see their many wonderful creations!

What You'll Need for the Cake:
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (Note: I used whole milk. I had some left over from one of the Tuesdays with Dorie recipes and since I drink skin or soy milk this was a good way to use some of that up.)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract (Note: As I mentioned above I used lemon juice because I couldn't find lemon extract.)

What You'll Need for the Buttercream:
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons) (Note: I ran out of lemon juice so I omitted this.)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

What You'll Need for Finishing:
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable (Note: I used blueberry jam instead. I'm not a fan of raspberries, though I keep trying them, but I haven't liked them yet. I let the jam come to room temperature and it spread fine.)
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut (Note: I didn't think the coconut was a good combination with the blueberries and lemon so I just decorated the cake with icing instead.)

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake:

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. (Note: I just mixed the sugar and lemon zest with my mixer and it worked perfectly.)

Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.

Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.

Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners. (Note: I think they needed to cool more than 5 minutes in the pan. I think this is why they were so fragile overall.) Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream:

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.

You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake:

Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Spread it with one third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving:

The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing:
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator. (Note: I actually thought the cake was better then next day and beyond. The flavors seemed to deepen and meld more completely as the cake sat.)

Playing Around:

Since lemon is such a friendly flavour, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves – cherry or strawberry – look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.

Fresh Berry Cake:

If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries – use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries, or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the buttercream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with buttercream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer buttercream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Posted by Dianne at 7:04 AM | Comments (35) | TrackBack

March 28, 2008

Gluten Free Beef with Broccoli

As I mentioned in passing a while back on the banana pudding post we recently discovered that Jamison can't eat gluten (or in more technical terms he has Celiac Disease). While that sounds dire, in reality it just means he has a gluten intolerance and needs to avoid it entirely. Needless to say for a person who had a diet largely made up of wheat in some form or another this has been a huge adjustment, but I must say he's done very well, if not for a grumble here or there, cutting the gluten out of his diet. (Note: The banana pudding recipe is NOT gluten free as it was made before we found out he couldn't have gluten. the pudding itself and the bananas are gluten free, but the vanilla wafers are not.)

As this journey begins you are startled by how many things have gluten in them that you wouldn't expect (various medicines/vitamins, almost anything that is a pre-packaged food which Jamison was a fan of, candy, and of course any breads/crackers and I even discovered that the brand of garlic salt I used had wheat in it! What's that about?) Once you know you can't gave gluten you have to start reading labels even closer than you did before and let me tell you I'm a label reader to begin with! You quickly learn what is and what isn't gluten free and you regularly visit the Celiac Sprue Association's Grain Page. I'm still learning, but I'm becoming more and more comfortable every day saying what is and what isn't gluten free.

One of those things that you wouldn't suspect to have wheat is soy sauce and because of that a lot of Chinese foods, especially those with brown sauces, are now off the market if you can't have gluten. Unfortunately Jamison loves Chinese and all of the dishes he eats are cooked in that soy filled brown sauce and this is how this recipe came about. If you can't have gluten then you just have to start adapting recipes of the things you love. In some cases it isn't easy, but it is doable and in this case it was a quite easy fix.

Chinese cuisine has an aura about it that makes a lot of people think it's hard to cook, but don't worry it's not! If you can steam some veggies, stir fry and make rice, you're golden! It also doesn't take a long time to prepare. It's a quick, easy and healthy option for when you want take out, but can't necessarily have it for health reasons or any other issue.

You'll also notice we have a new "Gluten Free" category on the side bar and I'll be adding to it as I adapt Jamison's favorites to gluten free equivalents. So far it's been hit and miss and I've yet to find a bread recipe that isn't grainy in texture and green in taste, so that's an adventure in and of itself, but I have been able to adapt some other things, so stay tuned! Oh and I will conquer that bread too! I'm anything if not determined! ;o)

What You'll Need:
1 1/2 cups of water
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
2 tablespoons of organic cane sugar
4 tablespoons of gluten free soy sauce (Note: La Choy soy sauces are wheat free according to their label. I always use the version that has less salt. If in doubt read the label! Wheat should be readily labeled and if it says something along the lines of "food starch" in most cases that means wheat so steer clear!)
2 tablespoons of corn starch
Extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds of beef, cut into bite sized chunks
1 pound of broccoli, steamed
1 cup of cooked brown rice, per person

In a medium sized bowl mix water, rice vinegar, cane sugar, soy sauce and corn starch and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add meat and stir to ensure that all the meat is covered. Cover the bowl tightly and then refrigerate to let the mixture marinate for at least an hour to overnight.

Remove the meat from the refrigerator and take it out of the sauce. Do not discard the sauce as you will need some of it for the recipe.

In a large skillet over medium heat sauté the meat in a little olive oil until the outsides are slightly browned. (Note: Don't go overboard with the oil. You want enough to just coat the pan, roughly 1 tablespoon max.) Once the meat is browned add 1 cup of the marinating liquid and cook until the mixture thickens and the beef is done through. If you like a lot of sauce add more of the marinating liquid.

While the meat is cooking steam the broccoli until just tender and set aside.

Most varieties of brown rice take around 1 hour to cook. The Beef with Broccoli takes about 20-30 minutes to cook depending on how big your chunks of meat are so make sure you give enough time for the rice to be done. You want 1 cup of cooked brown rice per person.

To serve place some rice on a plate and top with the cooked beef mixture. Next add 6-8 broccoli florets and serve.

Notes: You could add in different types of steamed vegetables (i.e. carrots, snow peas, cauliflower, etc.) to make a Mixed Vegetable version. You could also substitute chicken or shrimp for the beef if you're not a beef fan. If you wanted to make a completely vegeterian/vegan version you could use tofu or mushrooms in place of the meat. The possibilities are endless!

Posted by Dianne at 7:12 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

March 27, 2008

Matzo Ball Soup

I had never had Matzo Ball Soup, but I was curious. It looked like such a hearty, comforting soup and those I know who had tried it were big fans, so I decided about a year ago to make some. Of course somehow I always got sidetracked and never got around to making it, but that all changed last week and I must admit I was highly impressed! I'll most definitely make this again and I may try one of the other variations I've seen as well.

Overall this is a simple, basic, hearty soup that really hits the spot. It's exactly what you're looking for when you think of comfort food, with the added bonus of a hearty broth and nice chunks of chicken and vegetables. What's better than that?

What You'll Need:
1 whole chicken, rinsed
Water
Sea salt
Black pepper
2 cups of matzo meal
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs
A pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of chicken broth
Extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1 leek, chopped

Place your chicken (and any gizzards and such) in a large stock pot and cover with water. Add a generous pinch of sea salt and some black pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 30 minutes to an hour, until chicken is done through and the water has formed a broth. (Note: This is just a very basic chicken stock. You can add in other veggies or herbs and such if you want, but for this soup simple is best.)

While the broth is making mix together matzo meal, olive oil, eggs, salt and broth in a medium sized bowl until a sticky dough forms. Place the bowl in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill.

Once the chicken is done and the broth has formed remove the chicken and place it in a glass or stainless steel bowl to cool so you can remove the chicken from the bone. Strain broth through a sieve into a large glass or stainless steel bowl and set side.

Return the empty stock pot to the stove over medium heat and sauté onion, celery, carrots and leeks until the onions are tender. Return the broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Cook for at least 30 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Taste the broth and if more salt or pepper are needed add accordingly.

Once the chicken is cooled enough to handle remove the skin and discard. Next tear off chicken until all of the edible meat is off of the bone. Once the carrots are tender add the chicken pieces back to the pot. Bring the mixture back to a boil and take the chilled matzo mixture and roll it into balls slightly smaller than a golf ball. Once all the matzo balls are added cook the soup for an additional 10 minutes to cook the matzo balls and then serve the soup warm.

Notes: One of the recipes I read a few years ago for this soup called for putting dried dill into the matzo balls. I must admit that intrigues me and I may try it next time, but this time I wanted to leave the soup as basic as possible.

Posted by Dianne at 7:52 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 26, 2008

Double Onion Dip

For a while now I've been wanting to try and make some onion dip from scratch and the other night when we had some friends over for dinner I decided to test my theory. Most of us have had the onion dip that you make with onion soup mix and sour cream, but I thought about it for a while and wondered if you couldn't make a good dip without having to use the over processed soup mix and this is what resulted. It's creamy and has the illusion of being rich, all while packed with fresh onion and garlic. I actually ended up liking it better than the soup mix equivalent!

What You'll Need:
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 a large red onion, chopped
1/2 a large sweet onion, chopped
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
A generous addition of freshly ground black pepper
A pinch of sea salt
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 - 16 ounce container of light sour cream (Note: As always you can use fat free, light or regular sour cream, though fat free would make this sickeningly sweet as the onions themselves give the dip a natural sweetness.)

Sauté onion with thyme, rosemary, pepper and salt until onions are tender and slightly caramelized:

Add minced garlic and cook for an additional 2-4 minutes until garlic is done.

Remove onions from the stove and pour into sour cream. Stir to mix. Store dip in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving and stir before putting out to eat. Serve with vegetables and/or bagel or pita chips.

Notes: You could use any type of onion that you like. You could also switch up the herbs if thyme and rosemary aren't your thing.

Posted by Dianne at 7:13 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 25, 2008

Tuesdays With Dorie: I Was Going To Make The Caramel-Topped Flan But...

I had every intention of setting out to make Caramel-Topped Flan this past weekend chosen by Steph from A Whisk and a Spoon, but on Friday afternoon my nephew Grant was born and well baby cuddles and toes or Caramel-Topped Flan? I have to say that the baby cuddles and toes won out! So I'm sure you guys can forgive me for not participating this week as I had places to be and a new person to see!

Be sure and stop on over at the other Tuesdays with Dorie blogs and see how their flan turned out. I'll have to get back to this one later. ;o)

Posted by Dianne at 7:15 AM | Comments (21) | TrackBack

March 24, 2008

Steak Fajita Nachos

Back in 1993 I returned home for a year to attend a local community college and a friend of mine and I used to eat a local Mexican restaurant that was there at the time. They had a dish on the menu that was called Chicken or Beef Fajita Nachos that was to die for! The restaurant went out of business and I had never seen a similar dish at other restaurants so I decided it was high time that I try to recreate it and I did just that!

This dish can be as hot (and I made it pretty hot!) or as mild as you like. You can also use the cheese of your choice or a mix of several cheeses. It comes together easily and it really took me back! If you like Mexican than this is the dish for you!

What You'll Need:
Extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, cut into strips
1 bell pepper, cut into strips
1 pounds of steak, cut into thin strips
A pinch of sea salt
A pinch of black pepper
A generous pinch of cayenne pepper
1 - 8 ounce bar of Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded (Note: You could also use white cheddar or any other mild white cheese.)
Corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sauté onion and pepper in a bit of extra virgin olive oil, along with sea salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper, until slightly tender. Add steak and cook until the steak is just browned. Remove from heat and set aside.

Spray a pie dish with non-stick spray and place a layer of tortillas to completely cover the bottom of the dish and then cover the tortillas with a layer of cheese:

Next add half of the beef/pepper onion mixture on top of the cheese:

Repeat this procedure one more time (a layer of tortillas, a layer of cheese and a layer of meat/onion/peppers) and then top the beef/onion/pepper layer with more cheese. Place the dish in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Notes: You could use chicken or shrimp in place of the steak. Serve with a little sour cream and/or salsa.

Posted by Dianne at 7:11 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

March 22, 2008

Easter Ideas

It's been a busy week, but Easter is always a lot of fun, especially with children. Alexis, Nelson and I dyed some eggs yesterday and had a ball! This afternoon Alexis and I will be making a bunny cake and some Easter sugar cookies.

If you'd like to see some Easter recipes from last year then check out my Easter set on Flickr. We'll have some new recipe to add next week for this Easter, but for now enjoy the yummies from last year!

Happy Easter everyone!

Update 8:41 PM: I just realized that the links on the Flickr page aren't working. When we moved servers something must have changed. Next week I'm going to go through all of them and get them up to date, but for now if you want one of the recipes simply use the search feature in the sidebar here on Dianne's Dishes with the item you're looking for and it should come up.

Posted by Dianne at 12:55 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 21, 2008

Honey Cashew Brittle

Sometimes you set out to make one thing (in this case honey roasted cashews) and you end up with something totally different. In this case what I ended up with was not a mistake as such, but a pleasant discovery instead!

The honey gives the brittle such a lovely undertone and Alexis and I both really liked the "mistake". You can't win them all, but it's always nice when you stumble onto something you hadn't expected. I'll get back to the honey roasting another day!

What You'll Need: 1/3 cup of honey
1/2 cup of organic cane sugar
1 teaspoon of sea salt
Roughly 1/2 pound of cashews

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a medium sized pot heat honey over medium until it is thin (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in sugar and salt. Next add cashews and stir to coat. Pour cashew/sugar/honey mixture onto a sheet pan that is lined with a silicone baking sheet and spread the nuts out. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden browned.

Stir the mixture occasionally as the edges will brown earlier than the middle and you don't want the edges to burn. Be VERY careful because the hot sugar will burn your skin very badly if it touches you!! (I know of which I speak! ;o)) Remove pan from the oven and let it sit so the mixture can harden and then break into pieces.

Notes: You could do this with any nuts that you like. Peanuts or almonds in particular would make a nice addition or you could do a mix of nuts.

Posted by Dianne at 7:58 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

March 20, 2008

Tomato Chick Pea Soup

Tomatoes and chick peas go very well together, so why not make a soup with both? This soup utilizes those two ingredients, along with some other vegetables, to make an easy, quick, hearty, healthy soup that really hits the spot. What's better than that on these days that can't figure out if they are winter or spring even if today is the first official day of just that?

What You'll Need:
Extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 leek, chopped
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
1 - 15.5 ounce can of chick peas, drained
1 - 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
1 quart of broth (vegetable or chicken)
2 cups of spinach, chopped

Sauté onion, carrot, leek and thyme in a little extra virgin olive oil until onion is tender. Add chick peas, tomatoes and broth and stir until mixed. Bring to a rapid boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes. Add chopped spinach and cook for 5-8 minutes until spinach is just cook. Serve immediately.

Notes: You could add other vegetables into the soup if you liked. You could also add some shrimp or chicken if you wanted a meat element, but the soup stands alone with the chick peas and is hearty in and of itself without extras.

Posted by Dianne at 7:37 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 19, 2008

Greek Yogurt Smashed Potatoes with Rosemary, Garlic and Caramelized Onion

When you think mashed potatoes you immediately think rich and bad for you, but they don't have to be. There are ways to make delicious mashed potatoes, all while ensuring that they aren't bad for your waist line. Add in some Greek yogurt and some herbs, garlic and onion and you've got a fantastic potato side dish that really hits the spot when you want some good old smashed potatoes!

What You'll Need:
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into rounds
Extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, sliced into small wedges
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 cup of Greek Yogurt (Note: I like Oikos.)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium sized pot boil potatoes until tender, drain and place back in the pot.

While the potatoes are cooking in a medium sized skillet cook onions until caramelized and then add garlic and dried rosemary and cook for an additional 2 minutes to soften garlic.

In a small pot heat greek yogurt until just heated through (about 2 minutes) and add a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Once potatoes are cooked and drained add the heated yogurt mixture to the potatoes smash the potatoes with a potato masher until somewhat smooth. Stir in onion mixture until incorporated and serve.

Notes: You can use other herbs if you like. You could also leave out the onions or even substitute shallots or scallions instead.

Posted by Dianne at 7:37 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

March 18, 2008

Tuesdays with Dorie: Brioche Raisin Snails (Minus the Raisins)

It's Tuesday! You know what that means...Tuesdays with Dorie! This week's recipe was Brioche Raisin Snails chosen by Peabody from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody.

Well I have to admit I wasn't overly thrilled with how this turned out, though I had thought it would be to die for. The end result was just a bit bland in my opinion. It needed more oomph. I think it needed a bit more cinnamon (even though I added more than the recipe called for) and it also needed a bit more sugar (which I added more of as well), but even though they didn't taste like much the "snails" themselves were beautiful to look at if nothing else.

As you can see I also left out the raisins. I like raisins in cookies or paired with baked apples or even in pumpkin bread, but in other ways I'm not a huge fan of cooked raisins so I left them out. I don't think that that omisson however changed the overall feel of the recipe, nor do I think the addition would have changed the overall blandness.

One thing that I was really excited about with this recipe was the pastry cream. I've always wanted to make pastry cream, but I never had. I don't however think mine turned out so well. It was rather thick and less like what I would call a cream and more like what I would call a thick pudding. It also could have used a bit more sugar, but then again I think that was the overall theme for me with this recipe. It could have been the fact that I had a headache all day that I just couldn't shake so I wasn't up to par to begin with, or maybe it was just the recipe itself...who knows?

The recipe called for half of a brioche recipe that was listed in another part of the book (as was the pastry cream too), but the recipe for that said you couldn't really half the recipe if you wanted it to turn out ok, so I took the other half and baked a loaf of brioche. This too was something I had always wanted to try. The loaf itself turned out beautifully, but it was a bit rich, which is slightly strange given when you paired it with the other elements the recipe still seemed bland overall.

Granted this was a pretty recipe, but I don't see myself making it again. The blandness, coupled with the fact you have to keep turning back and forth through the book, just makes it not worth it to me. It also would have been nice to have a picture or two to sort of guide you along the path. We'll see what the other TWD bakers thought. Be sure and check out them out and see their takes on the recipe.

What You'll Need for the Brioche Raisin Snails:
1 cup moist, plump raisins (Note: I omitted these.)
3 tablespoons dark rum (Note: I omitted this too.)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Scant 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 recipe for Golden Brioche Loaves(page 48), chilled and ready to shape (make the full recipe and cut the dough in half after refrigerating overnight) (See recipe below)
1/2 recipe Pastry Cream (page 448) (See recipe below)

What You'll Need for The Optional Glaze:
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
About 1 teaspoon water
Drop of pure vanilla extract

Getting Ready: Line one large or two smaller baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Put the raisins in a small saucepan, cover them with hot water and let them steep for about 4 minutes, until they are plumped. Drain the raisins, return them to the saucepan and, stirring constantly, warm them over low heat. When the raisins are very hot, pull the pan from the heat and pour over the rum. Standing back, ignite the rum. Stair until the flames go out, then cover and set aside. (The raisins and rum an be kept in a covered jar for up to 1 day.)

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together.

On a flour dusted surface, roll the dough into a rectangle about 12 inches wide and 16 inches long, with a short end toward you. Spread the pastry cream across the dough, leaving 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you. Scatter the raisins over the pastry cream and sprinkle the raisins and cream with the cinnamon sugar. Starting wit the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can. (At this point, you can wrap the dough airtight and freeze it up to 2 months; see Storing for further instructions. Or, if you do not want to make the full recipe, use as much of the dough as you'd like and freeze the remainder.)

With a chef's knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends if they're ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into rounds a scant 1 inch thick. Put the snails on the lined baking sheet(s), leaving some puff space between them.

Lightly cover the snails with wax paper and set the baking sheet(s) in a warm place until the snails have doubles in volume--they'll be puffy and soft--about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Getting Ready To Bake: When the snails have almost fully risen, preheat the oven: depending on the number of baking sheets you have, either center a rack in the oven or position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Remove the wax paper, and bake the snails for about 25 minutes (rotate the sheets if you're using two, from top to bottom and front to back after 15 minutes), or until they are puffed and richly browned. Using a metal spatula, transfer the snails onto a cooling rack.

If You Want To Glaze The Snails: Put a piece of wax paper under the rack of warm rolls to act as a drip catcher. Put the confectioners' sugar into a small bowl, and stir in a teaspoon of water. Keep adding water drop by drop until you have an icing that falls from the tip of a spoon. Add the vanilla extract, then drizzle the icing over the hot snails.

What You'll Need for the Golden Brioche Dough:
2 packets active dry yeast
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

What You'll Need for the Glaze:
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water

To Make The Brioche: Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit into the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can-- this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you're doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you'll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You'll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.

Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight.

The next day, butter and flour two 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-inch pans.

Pull the dough from the fridge and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cut each piece of the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into a log about 3 1/2 inches long. Arrange 4 logs crosswise in the bottom of each pan. Put the pans on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat, cover the pans lightly with wax paper and leave the loaves at room temperature until the dough almost fills the pans, 1 to 2 hours. (Again, rising time with depend on how warm the room is.)

Getting Ready To Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

To Make the Glaze: Beat the egg with the water. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the loaves with the glaze.

Bake the loaves until they are well risen and deeply golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pans and turn the loaves out onto the racks. Invert again and cool for at least 1 hour.

What You'll Need for the Pastry Cream:
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk-- this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are full incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold or, if you want to cool it quickly--as I always do--put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.

Posted by Dianne at 7:52 AM | Comments (28) | TrackBack

March 17, 2008

Caramel Irish Cream Cupcakes

Jamison suggested making something to take to work to celebrate St. Patrick's Day so I decided to make a basic cupcake and then kick it up a bit and give them a slightly Irish twist. The result were these Caramel Irish Cream Cupcakes and let me tell you, if you like Irish Cream then these are the cupcakes for you!

What You'll Need for the Cupcakes:
3 cups of cake flour
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 1/2 cups of organic cane sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/3 cup of safflower oil (Note: Any clear vegetable oil will work, I just prefer safflower oil.)
4 eggs
1 cup of light sour cream (Note: Any type of sour cream will work...light, fat free, regular.)
1/2 cup of Caramel Irish Cream

What You'll Need for the Icing: (Note: This is a basic variation of Wilton's buttercream icing.)

2 cups of trans-fat free shortening (Note: I used Spectrum. If you want you can use half butter and half shortening, but the icing will not be as firm and you will need to store the cake in the fridge once you're done. I also don't really like the butter flavor that the butter brings to the icing. Don't get me wrong, I love butter, I am just not a big fan of it in icing. I'll eat it if there is no other choice because after all we're talking icing here, but I prefer not to, plus the butter makes the icing harder to work with in terms of being too soft at times and this may cause your decorations to not hold up, especially in warmer weather.)
1-2 teaspoons almond flavoring (Note: This is optional as some don't like almond flavoring, but it really brings something to the icing!)
1-2 teaspoons of vanilla
7-8 cups of powdered sugar (Note: If you want to sift it you can, but it isn't necessary, although Wilton recommends doing just that. I however skip that step and the icing always turns out great.)
Water

To Make the Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Stir flour, salt, baking powder and sugar until throughly mixed. Add vanilla, safflower oil, eggs, sour cream and Irish Cream to the flour mixture and stir until there are no lumps. Pour batter into a muffin pan that has been lined with cupcake liners. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cupcakes stick clean with a toothpick. (Note: The cupcakes should not be overly brown and they should be pale. If you overcook them they will be slightly tough. I actually let this batch go about 2 minutes longer than I should have so keep an eye on them!)

Let cool completely and then decorate with icing.

To Make the Icing:

Cream together shortening, almond and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar slowly one cup at a time and let it incorporate into the shortening mixture. If the icing seems too thick add a little water to thin it out a bit. (Note: Wilton suggests milk, but again I don't like the flavor it brings and it kind of weirds me out to have milk in something sitting out at room temperature.) Mix until completely smooth and then use to ice your cake or cupcakes in this case. (Note: See how to color the icing before decorating in the next paragraph.)

If you want to color the icing add a few drops of food coloring and mix until well blended. If the color isn't to your liking then add a few more and so on and so forth until you get the color you want. (Note: Remember that once the color is in you aren't taking it back out. Also remember that it is very hard to perfectly match a color if you have to remix more icing so it's better to mix a bit more than you might need than not enough if you want an exact color match. Also Wilton claims that half of the recipe I made will ice one cake. I'm not sure what size cake they think that is going to ice, but it's not happening! The batch I made above just covered the 19 cupcakes I decorated, the three generously iced cupcakes Alexis did, with about 1/4 of a cup of icing left over. But then again I'm all about the icing, so maybe it's just me.)

This recipe makes roughly 22 cupcakes. I decorated 19 and I let Alexis decorate 3 in the same time it took me to do mine. She had a ball! As you can see she is quite talented:

She's an icing girl like her Mom! ;o) I think I have a future cake decorator on my hands!

P.S. Last year we had a big celebration on Saint Patrick's Day. If you'd like to see some of my adapted Irish recipes then hop on over to my Saint Patrick's Day Flickr Set from last year's feast! I hope you have a very Irish, very green day! ;o)

Posted by Dianne at 7:32 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

March 15, 2008

BlogHer Survey

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March 14, 2008

Pi Day: Homemade Blueberry Pie!

Today is 3/14...get it 3.14...Pi day? When I first saw this challenge over at Kitchen Parade it immediately spoke to the science geek in me! Pi...Pie...What's not to like? My mind immediately began working and I finally decided to whip up a blueberry pie because I've always wanted to make one and what better time than now? I actually made this pie a few weeks ago, but I've been dying to share it with you ever since then! ;o)

The challenge is to come up with a homemade filling WITH a homemade crust. The filling is a breeze, but homemade pie crusts can be a pain in the you know what. I ended up coming up with one of each that was delicious so I was very pleased. I'll most definitely be making this again! ;o)

What You'll Need for the Crust:
2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup of organic cane sugar
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 1/2 sticks of cold butter, cut into chunks
1/3-1/2 cup of ice water

The most important thing to remember when making a pie crust is that your ingredients need to be cold! You also need to put the dough, once it's made, back into the fridge in a ball for at least 30 minutes, if not an hour, before you roll it out for your pie. I also like to put the pie shell back into the fridge once it's rolled out and in the dish for another 30 minutes to an hour just to ensure that it's really set.

In a food processor, or in a bowl, mix together flour, sugar and salt until blended. Using the pulse function on your food processor, or a pastry cutter in a bowl, cut butter into flour mixture until mixture turns pebbly. Slowly add the ice water until dough ball forms. (Note on Dough: Depending on humidity levels you may need some or all of the water or may even have to add a bit more. Don't panic if it doesn't come together immediately. Just stop adding water as soon as the ball forms!) (Note on Ice Water: I've had people ask me this before, so I'll address it here just in case for those of you who aren't sure. What does ice water mean? How do you measure that? You measure the amount of water called for and THEN add the ice.) Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and smooth into a ball. Place in an airtight container and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

After dough has chilled return it to the floured surface and cut into two pieces, one piece being slightly larger than the other. Roll out the big piece and place into a glass pie dish. Press into place (and my crusts are always rustic because I haven't quite gotten the knack for flourishy crimps) and place back in the fridge for at least an additional 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Remove crust from fridge and place into the oven. Bake for 7-10 minutes until crust is golden. (Note: Since you are dealing with a cold pan and placing it into a hot oven there is the off chance that your dish might break, though I've never had this happen to me. If you're worried about it then skip the second cooling stage or place the dish on a baking pan in case it does break. But like I said I do this all the time and it's never happened.) If you want you can weigh down the crust by placing aluminum foil over the crust and using pie weights or dried beans, but you don't have to. You may get a few bubbles here and there, but it won't matter in the grand scheme of things. Once the pie shell is done remove from oven and let cool completely. This yields a very tender, sweet, flaky crust.

What You'll Need for the Blueberry Filling:
6-7 cups of fresh blueberries (Note: You can use frozen blueberries IF you've frozen them yourself. Commercially frozen blueberries wouldn't work well for this recipe. I actually had some I had frozen last fall and I used those along with a few fresh berries as well.)
The zest of two lemons
The juice of two lemons
1 cup of organic cane sugar (Note: If your blueberries are really tart then add an additional 1/2 cup of sugar.)
1/2 cup of corn starch

In a large stock pot place berries, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar and cook until blueberries are tender and syrup forms. Stir in corn starch and cook until mixture thickens. (This take about 2-4 minutes...If it's thick and it hasn't been two minutes don't worry...Thick is thick so proceed to the next step!) Remove blueberries from heat as soon as the mixture thickens so you won't take the corn starch too far. Let cool for 10-15 minutes and then spread into the prepared pie shell. Let the pie come to room temperature and then top with meringue.

What You'll Need for the Meringue:
8 egg whites
1/3 cup of organic cane sugar
1 teaspoon of cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 425 F.

In a bowl of a mixer place all three ingredients and whip on high until stiff peaks form. Place egg white mixture into a pastry bag with a large tip and pipe onto the cooled pie. Once the entire pie is covered place the pie in the oven just long enough for the meringue to brown (usually no more than 3-5 minutes) and remove. Sit on counter and let cool for an hour or so. Serve at room temperature or chill in the fridge for a couple of hours and serve chilled.

(Note: I had some meringue left over so I made some Meringues with what I didn't use for the pie.)

Notes: The lemon zest and juice give this recipes just the right pop. Lemon compliments blueberry so well. You could also use this method with strawberries or peaches to make a different twist on the pie. If you don't want meringue you could use the left over pie crust to do a lattice on top or create shapes. You could also top this with whipped cream instead.

Be sure and hop on over to Kitchen Parade and see what other pies people came up with...Because after all it is "Pi" day! ;o) And thanks to KP for hosting such a fun event!

Posted by Dianne at 7:21 AM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

March 13, 2008

And the Winner of the March Dianne's Dishes Contest is...

Allie from Allie's Answers! Congrats Allie and your herbs will be on the way to you soon!

Check back soon for another fun contest!

Have a wonderful evening everyone!

Posted by Dianne at 5:34 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Not Your Mama's Banana Pudding

One of Jamison's all time favorites it Banana Pudding, but when he had to give up dairy due to IBS then he had to give up the pudding. Last week I decided to make him a non-dairy version, though we'll have to adapt it more now that we've found out he can't have gluten either, so the wafers will have to be changed as well, but we'll breach that another time. For now this version is what evolved.

Overall Jamison was completely surprised. He kind of got that "you did what?" look when I first told him what I'd done, but after he tasted it I won him over. It's a simple and dairy free alternative to your basic banana pudding, but you don't lose any of the flavor. That's just what you look for with this sort of thing!

What You'll Need for the Vanilla Pudding:
1 quart of Eden Blend Rice and Soy Beverage
2 vanilla beans split and scraped
1 cup of organic cane sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of corn starch

In a medium sized pot pour rice/soy milk. Cut and scrape two vanilla beans into the milk and then throw in the split beans. Bring the mixture to a boil and boil for 3-4 minutes to let the vanilla seep into the milk. Pour mixture through a sieve and return strained milk, minus the split beans, to the pot. Lower the heat and return pot to the flame. In a separate bowl whisk together sugar, salt and corn starch until mixed. Add to the milk and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cool pudding in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

What You'll Need for the Banana Pudding:
1 batch of Vanilla Pudding (See recipe above)
Vanilla wafer type cookies (Note: I used a light version. I'll now be looking for a gluten free version for the next time I make this for him.) Bananas

First place a layer of vanilla wafers on the bottom of a baking dish:

Next place a layer of bananas on top of the vanilla wafers:

Now add the pudding:

Since bananas have a tendency to brown after exposure to air next you want to switch the top two layers and add the bananas directly on top of the pudding:

Next add a final layer of vanilla wafers covering as much of the surface area of bananas as possible, blocking them from the air as much as possible:

Serve immediately or store in the fridge covered for up to two days.

Notes: You could use plain rice milk or plain soy milk in place of the blend, but I really like the flavor of the blend. You could also substitute 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla in place of the vanilla beans. The pudding itself is not only dairy free, it's vegan. I don't know if vanilla wafers are vegan however, though I'm sure there is a vegan equivalent out there somewhere if they aren't, and as I mentioned before I will now be searching for a gluten free version of the wafers as well for the next time I make this.

P.S. Don't forget the March edition of the Dianne's Dishes contest series for your chance to win some free herbs and spices! The contest ends today, March 13, 2008 at 5 PM EST so if you haven't entered yet then do! ;o)

Posted by Dianne at 7:14 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 12, 2008

Improvised Miso Soup

I'm a huge fan of Miso Soup, I mean big time! I've always wanted to try and make it at home, but it was just one of those things I just never got around to. Plus when I've read about it in the past it's a bit intimidating, mainly in that you can not let the soup boil once the miso is added. Talk about pressure! ;o)

Last week I decided I finally wanted to try my hand at making Miso Soup. I got some brown rice miso and some tofu and thought I'd be good to go. I didn't however get any dashi stock. I did some reading and found that one version of dashi stock was made with dried mushrooms. The only problem with that was I didn't have any dried mushrooms on hand. I did however have some baby portabella mushrooms so I decided to make some mushroom broth from that and go from there. In other words I improvised! The end result turned out great and was an almost dead ringer for the Miso Soup I order when Jamison picks up sushi for me.

What You'll Need:
1 package of mushrooms (Note: As I mentioned above I used baby portabellas.)
Enough water to cover the mushrooms in a 2 1/2 quart pot
1 package of firm tofu, cut into small squares
1-2 tablespoons of miso
2 cups of spinach, chopped into strips

In a 2 1/2 quart pot cook mushrooms in water until mushrooms are tender. Remove mushrooms and reserve broth. (Note: You do not want to add salt to this as the miso is salty enough to flavor the whole soup. Also you can eat the mushrooms as is or use them in something like Mushroom Stroganoff or Mushroom Spread.)

Once the mushrooms are removed add in the tofu and let it cook for 5 or 6 minutes. (Note: Tofu absorbs flavor from the components of the soup. On it's own it doesn't taste like much.) After the tofu has been in for a few minutes lower the heat and make sure the soup is NOT boiling! Stir in miso until dissolved and make sure the soup does NOT go to a boil after the miso is added. (Note: I don't know why you're not supposed to boil it, but I kept reading that over and over in terms of miso and it's even printed on the side of my miso container. If anyone out there knows why drop me a comment! ;o))

Once the miso is added add the spinach and cook until spinach is just wilted. Serve immediately. (Note: I used the bagged baby spinach and I know it says it's "triple washed" or some such who hah, but wash it! They put some kind of stabilizer or preservative on it, even on the organic versions, and when I don't wash it it makes my tongue numb. That tells you it's something you don't want to be eating! Wash, wash, wash! ;o) Plus you don't know who has handled it after it was "triple washed" so don't take any chances!)

Notes: Using the mushroom broth makes this vegan, just so you know. I even ended up freezing part of the batch for use later. You can also top this soup with chopped green onion. The place I order mine from does both spinach and green onion, but I didn't have any green onion on hand.

P.S. Oh and don't forget the March edition of the Dianne's Dishes contest series for your chance to win some free herbs and spices!

Posted by Dianne at 6:58 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 11, 2008

Tuesdays with Dorie: Russian Grandmothers' Apple Pie-Cake (My Mini Version!)

It's Tuesday! So you know what that means...Tuesdays with Dorie! This week's recipe was Russian Grandmothers' Apple Pie-Cake and it was chosen by Natalie of Burned Bits.

So it a pie or is it a cake? Yes! The dough is cake like, though the whole put together is more like that of a pie. I ended up making mini-pie-cakes so I could send them to work with Jamison, but that fell apart when the recipe only made 12. That wasn't enough to share with everyone he works with and I'm all about being fair! So I ended up freezing some of them for my sister once the baby is born, since I've been doing that lately so I'll have stuff to take to her in a few weeks after his arrival. Am I a nice sister or what? ;o)

I liked the end result of what I made, BUT I tweaked the recipe for the filling. I thought brown sugar would be better than regular sugar and I left out the raisins. I'll add my notes in the recipe below. I also thought the dough would have made some great lemon sugar cookies if you added some lemon zest and they were baked and topped with lemon icing...I may just have to test out that theory in the future! ;o)

What You'll Need for the Dough:
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature (Note: I used salted butter. I rarely buy unsalted and never think about it most of the time until I see it in a recipe.)
1 cup sugar (Note: I used organic cane sugar.)
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Juice of 1 lemon
3 1/4 - 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

What You'll Need for the Apples:
10 medium apples, all one kind or a mix (I like to use Fuji, Golden Delicious and Ida Reds; my grandmother probably used dry baking apples like Cordland and Rome) (Note: I used Granny Smith. I only ended up using about 5 apples and had some left over that I cooked and froze. My apples weren't overly large either.)
Squirt of fresh lemon juice (Note: I didn't add this.)
1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden) (Note: I didn't add these either.)
1/4 cup sugar (Note: I didn't think 1/4 a cup of sugar was enough for 10 apples. I didn't end up using 10 apples, but I did increase the sugar to 3/4 a cup. I also used natural brown sugar because I think brown sugar pairs better with apples than regular sugar. Had I used 10 apples I probably would have gone with a full cup of brown sugar.)
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon (Note: I used 2 teaspoons.)
Sugar, preferably decorating (coarse) sugar, for dusting (Note: I used organic cane sugar for dusting.)

To Make The Dough:
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes more. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the baking powder and salt and mix just to combine. Add the lemon juice - the dough will probably curdle, but don't worry about it. Still working on low speed, slowly but steadily add 3 1/4 cups of the flour, mixing to incorporate it and scraping down the bowl as needed. The dough is meant to be soft, but if you think it looks more like a batter than a dough at this point, add the extra 1/4 cup flour. (The dough usually needs the extra flour.) When properly combined, the dough should almost clean the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each half into a rectangle. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or for up to 3 days. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months; defrost overnight in the refrigerator.)

To Make The Apples:
Peel and core the apples and cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick; cut the slices in half crosswise if you want. Toss the slices in a bowl with a little lemon juice - even with the juice, the apples may turn brown, but that's fine - and add the raisins. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together, sprinkle over the apples and stir to coat evenly. Taste an apple and add more sugar, cinnamon, and/or lemon juice if you like.

Getting Ready to Bake:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Generously butter a 9x12-inch baking pan (Pyrex is good) and place it on a baking sheet llined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Remove the dough from the fridge. If it is too hard to roll and it cracks, either let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes or give it a few bashes with your rolling pin to get it moving. Once it's a little more malleable, you've got a few choices. You can roll it on a well-floured work surface or roll it between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper. You can even press or roll out pieces of the dough and patch them together in the pan - because of the baking powder in the dough, it will puff and self-heal under the oven's heat. Roll the dough out until it is just a little larger all around than your pan and about 1/4 inch thick - you don't want the dough to be too thin, because you really want to taste it. Transfer the dough to the pan. If the dough comes up the sides of the pan, that's fine; if it doesn't that's fine too.

Give the apples another toss in the bowl, then turn them into the pan and, using your hands, spread them evenly across the bottom.

Roll out the second piece of dough and position it over the apples. Cut the dough so you've got a 1/4 to 1/2 inch overhang and tuck the excess into the sides of the pan, as though you were making a bed. (If you don't have that much overhang, just press what you've got against the sides of the pan.)

Brush the top of the dough lightly with water and sprinkle sugar over the dough. Using a small sharp knife, cut 6 to 8 evenly spaced slits in the dough.

Bake for 65 to 80 minutes, or until the dough is a nice golden brown and the juices from the apples are bubbling up through the slits. Transfer the baking pan to a cooling rack and cool to just warm or to room temperature. You'll be tempted to taste it sooner, but I think the dough needs a little time to rest.

Notes: Below is what I did to make the mini pie-cakes.

First cut a round of crust and place it into the hole of a muffin pan. Next add apples. (Note: I had to break the slices in half to get them in the muffin pan.)

Next cut another round, slightly smaller and place it on top of the apples, crimping around the sides and cut a couple of vents to let steam out.

Next brush each top with a bit of water and sprinkle with sugar.

Next bake for 18-25 minutes until mini-pie cakes are golden brown.

And finally enjoy the ooey gooey center! Only let them cool a bit or they'll stick when coming out and you'll end up with a mess.

Oh the apple goodness! Until next week.

P.S. Oh and don't forget the March edition of the Dianne's Dishes contest series for your chance to win some free herbs and spices!

Posted by Dianne at 7:01 AM | Comments (36) | TrackBack

March 10, 2008

Pan "Fried" Feta and Thyme Polenta with Caramelized Onions

Polenta is a food I have just recently discovered. For years I associated it with grits and as I've mentioned before I'm not a fan of those, but polenta itself is a healthy, whole grain, alternative to other starchy side dishes. (And for those of you who didn't know it's a Weight Watchers Core food as well!)

This version involves seasoning the base polenta with thyme and feta, letting it set up, cutting it into squares, pan "frying" the squares and then topping them with caramelized onions. The taste combination really melds together well and the whole dish is hearty and filling, which is always a good thing when you're trying to eat less. Healthy most definitely does not have to be boring!

What You'll Need:
1 cup of polenta (Note: I used Bob's Red Mill.)
3-4 cups of water or broth
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces of fat free feta
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt (Note: I like Oikos.)
Extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, cut into small wedges

In a medium sized pan bring 3-4 cups of water or broth to a boil. Stir in polenta and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until polenta is thick and creamy, usually about 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove polenta from heat and stir in a pinch of sea salt, some freshly ground black pepper, thyme, Greek yogurt and feta and stir to incorporate. Pour polenta into an 8 X 8 inch dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray and spread out evenly. Let sit for 30 minutes to an hour until polenta is set up. (Note: You can do this in the fridge if you want. You could even do it the day before you want to use the polenta.)

Once polenta is set up cut into roughly 9 squares. Heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat and add a little olive oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan). Place squares into the pan and "fry" on each side until golden brown. Top with caramelized onions. (See below.)

In a separate pan or skillet cook onion in a little extra virgin olive oil (1 tablespoon tops) until onion is caramelized. Use to top the polenta. (Note: If you choose to let the polenta sit overnight then do this right before you get ready to serve.)

Notes: You could use rosemary instead of thyme or any other herb you like. You could also add another cheese. I prefer fat free feta because it's one of the few cheeses that actually tastes ok in fat free form. Most fat free cheese taste like cardboard, but feta retains it's body and flavor even when made fat free.

P.S. Oh and don't forget the March edition of the Dianne's Dishes contest series for your chance to win some free herbs and spices!

Posted by Dianne at 1:25 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Dianne's Dishes March Contest: Spice (Or Herb) Up Your Life!

So let's talk a little herbs and spices! What's a kitchen without them? For the March edition of the Dianne's Dishes Contest series you can win 1 - 0.56 ounce bottle of organic sweet basil, 1 - 1.9 ounce bottle of organic cinnamon, 1 - 0.71 ounce bottle of organic dill, 1 - 0.36 ounce bottle of organic oregano, 1 - 1.20 ounce bottle of Simply Organic Pasta Sprinkle (a mixture of onion, sesame seeds, lemon thyme, spinach, parsley and garlic) and 1- 2.12 ounce bottle of organic black peppercorns. How's that for a nice mix?

So how do you enter? Simply leave a comment on this thread with a valid e-mail address (and don't worry no one will see your e-mail address but me) by Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 5 pm EST. Once the contest is closed my little sous chef will pull a name out of the hat and I'll get in touch with that person and let them know that they've won. Anyone on our grand old planet earth is welcome to participate no matter where you live.

So what are you waiting for? Get ready to spice (or herb) up your life! Oh and tell your friends! ;o)

P.S. Don't forget to check back later today for a new recipe! :o)

Posted by Dianne at 7:06 AM | Comments (15)

March 7, 2008

Another Double Dose: Pineapple Eggrolls and Funnel Cakes

Note: We're doubling up again today so we can wrap up the "fry" day recipes. Enjoy! Next week we'll have some healthy recipes to make up for all this fried stuff! ;o) Don't forget that on Monday we'll have the March edition of the Dianne's Dishes contest series as well so check back for your chance to win!

When Jamison and I first got married we lived in Huntsville, Alabama and we used to love to go to a Chinese restaurant there called Formosa (Sorry, but I can't find a webpage for them!) and they had the best pineapple dessert type eggrolls. For years I've wanted to try to make them, but I just hadn't gotten around to it. I've made blueberry eggrolls and regular eggrolls, but I never got around to the pineapple version until this past Saturday and we all thought they turned out great! Ben even tried some topped with some of the Dulce de Leche I made for this week's Tuesday with Dorie. Pineapple and caramel...What's not to like?

What You'll Need:
1 package of egg rolls wrappers
2 - 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup of organic cane sugar
1 large can of crushed pineapple, drained well
1-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
Organic cane sugar

Preheat oil to 350 F.

Cream together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Stir in pineapple until well mixed.

Take an eggroll wrapper and lay it flat. Place a spoonful of the pineapple mixture in the center of the wrapper. Fold the sides to cover the filling. and then fold one end up and then the other. If it is having problems sticking run some water along the seam and then stick it back together and it will seal perfectly. Place in the oil and turn it several times to ensure that it browns on all sides. Once it is golden brown remove from the oil and place on a paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with organic cane sugar to coat. Serve warm or cooled.

Notes: You could really do this method with any type of fruit. Peaches would be really good, as would strawberries. Or another option would be to add chocolate chips to the cream cheese/sugar mixture instead of fruit. It's really just up to you and your imagination.

And now let's go on to the funnel cakes...Yum funnel cakes! ;o)

When Katherine and I were children my mom used to make us funnel cakes from time to time and it was always a treat we relished. I've made them once or twice since I've left home and it always brings back a nostalgic wave of memories. I couldn't find my recipe on Saturday morning so I called my mom and she read it off to me from her recipe box. It was almost as if she was here with us on Saturday after all! ;o)

We ended up topping the funnel cakes with powdered sugar and some of the Dulce de Leche I made for this week's Tuesday with Dorie...We used the soup out of that stuff on Saturday! It's good! ;o) But overall this dish was most definitely a blast from the past!

What You'll Need:
1/4 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3-4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
2 cups of buttermilk
3 eggs
Powdered sugar for dusting

Place enough oil in a deep sided skillet to go up the side of the pan at least 1/2 inch. Heat over medium heat until you can drop a drop of batter in the oil and it immediately starts to fry.

While oil is heating mix dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to mix. Add buttermilk and eggs and stir until batter forms. Place some batter in a narrow neck funnel or a measuring cup with a pour spout and swirl the batter into the hot oil. Fry until one side turns golden brown and then flip. Cook for 1-2 minutes more until the other side is browned and remove from oil. Drain on a paper towel and then top with powdered sugar.

Notes: You could add in some cocoa powder for Chocolate Funnel Cakes. You could also top the funnel cakes with sugar and cinnamon for a different twist. Whipped cream would also be good, or even a chocolate drizzle. Use your imagination! ;o)

Posted by Dianne at 7:07 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

March 6, 2008

Two For The Price of One: Veggie Corn Dogs and Dianne's Seasoned Chicken Fingers

Note: I'm going to double up on the recipes today and tomorrow to wrap up the "fry" day recipes. Next week we'll have the March Edition of the Dianne's Dishes Contest series. So let's get started shall we?

Corn dogs are definitely a fair food type of deal. As I've grown older I've also sort of grown away from your traditional hot dog and when I have a craving for something of that sort I usually go for a veggie dog. So when we decided to try corn dogs I immediately went for the veggie dogs and they turned out great! It was a blast from the past, all with a new spun twist.

What You'll Need:
1 package of Jumbo Smart Dogs or some other soy/veggie dog equivalent
2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 tablespoon of organic cane sugar
1/2-1 cup of buttermilk
1 egg
Corn starch
10 wooden sticks

Preheat oil to 340-350 F.

Cut hot dogs in half. (You'll have to do this for most fryers in order for the corn dog to fit inside.) Place a stick in the end of each hot dog. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl mix together flour, sea salt, baking powder and sugar and stir until incorporated. Add 1/2 cup of buttermilk and 1 egg and stir to mix batter. The batter should be thick, but not gloppy. If it is too thick then add a bit more milk. Place mixed batter into a tall glass and set aside.

Place some corn starch on a plate and roll each hot dog in the corn starch to coat. After they are coated dip each hot dog down into the glass of batter and fry immediately, turning several times to ensure that it browns evenly. When they are golden brown they are done. Remove from oil and place on paper towels to drain. Serve with mustard and/or ketchup.

Notes: This would work with conventional hot dogs as well.

And now let's talk a little chicken...Shall we?

Chicken fingers or "chickens" as Alexis likes to call them...What's not to like? We ended up making two versions. This one and a honey mustard version that Leann adapted from a certain food network "chef" (who will remain nameless because I'm far from a fan, but you marinate the tenders in honey mustard and then coat them in bread crumbs and herbs.). Both versions were to die for, though I'll only share mine here. But either would be good dipped in a mixture of equal parts Dijon mustard and honey, which was good on the french fries we made too, but we'll get into that another time! ;o)

What You'll Need:
1-2 pounds of boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 cup of unseasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup of a parmesan type cheese (Note: I used Kerrygold's Dubliner cheese, which is a personal favorite, but you can use regular old parmesan if you want.)
1-2 tablespoons of a Seasoning Mix (Note: I used Kirkland Signature Organic No-Salt Seasoning, which I got at Costco. It is a dried mix of onion, garlic, carrot, black pepper, red bell pepper, tomato, orange peel, parsley, bay leaves, thyme, basil, celery, lemon peel, oregano, savory, mustard seed, cumin, margoram, coriander, cayenne pepper, citric acid and rosemary, but what ever kind of seasoning you like works.)
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
Buttermilk

Preheat oil to 340 F.

Cut chicken breasts into strips. Set aside.

Mix together dry ingredients in a shallow baking dish. Set aside.

Pour some buttermilk in to a bowl and dip each strip in the buttermilk. Then take each strip and coat with the dry mixture. Drop each coated strip into the hot oil, two or three at a time, and fry until golden brown, turning a few times to ensure that all sides brown. This usually takes about 4-5 minutes. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel. Serve with honey mustard for dipping.

Notes: As I mentioned above you can make a simple (and delicious) honey mustard sauce/dressing simply by mixing equal parts honey and Dijon mustard...For instance 1 cup to 1 cup or 1/2 cup to 1/2 cup depending on how much you want to make. The sauce/dressing will store in the fridge for weeks.

Posted by Dianne at 6:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 5, 2008

Corn Fritters

I have to admit I had never tried corn fritters before Saturday on our "fry" day, but I was sold after one bite! This recipe is adapted from one from Paula Deen and I have to give Miss Paula props because she is most definitely the Queen of all things fried!

We ended up making some Ranch Dressing to dip them in and the combination was just wonderful together! If you've never had a corn fritter before they are similar to hush puppies, but they have corn kernels incorporated in the batter. The combination just goes so well together. I'll definitely be making these again in the future!

What You'll Need:
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup milk
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 package of frozen corn

Preheat oil to 325 F.

In a large bowl stir together cornmeal, flour, sugar and salt until well mixed. In a separate bowl beat together milk and eggs. Next add the egg mixture to the cornmeal mixture and stir to incorporate. Stir butter and corn into the batter and mix well.

Drop batter by the spoonful into the preheated oil. Cook the fritters until golden, turning once or twice to make sure it browns on all sides. Drain the fritters on paper towels and serve alone or with Ranch Dressing.

Notes: Leann and I talked about it and we think it might be nice to add some chopped onion into the mix as well. I think buttermilk would be a good addition in place of regular milk as well.

Posted by Dianne at 6:47 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

March 4, 2008

Tuesdays With Dorie: Snickery Squares

It's Tuesday and you know that that means....Tuesdays with Dorie! This weeks recipe is Snickery Squares and was chosen by Erin of Dinner & Dessert.

When I saw the choice I was thrilled...I mean the title says it all "Snickery" and I had looked at the recipe before and thought it would be excellent, but I have to admit after having made these I wasn't that thrilled. Now don't get me wrong the separate pieces of this recipe were to die for and I wanted to love this recipe I really did, but together it just didn't jell for me.

I loved the crust. It was wonderful. The candied peanuts were excellent. The Dulce de Leche, being caramel, oh my god...to die for! But when the elements all came together it just didn't do it for me. My sister tasted it Sunday night and she felt like the peanuts overpowered the rest of the recipe. They were good alone, but in the mix, she felt that they were just too much.

Overall I'm just not sure myself, but I doubt I'll make this recipe in this form again, but I most definitely see using the various parts again in other things! Plus I had never candied nuts before so that was fun to do as well. It's always fun to learn something new!

What You'll Need for the Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 TBSP powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten

What You'll need for the Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups salted peanuts
About 1 1/2 cups store-bought dulce de leche (Note: I couldn't find this anywhere so I just made my own.)

What You'll Need for the Topping:
7 ounces bittersweet, coarsely chopped
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, at room temperature

Getting Ready:

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 8 inch square pan and put it on a baking sheet.

To Make the Crust:

Toss the flour, sugar, powdered sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Toss in the pieces of cold butter and pulse about 12 times, until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Pour the yolk over the ingredients and pulse until the dough forms clumps and curds-stop before the dough comes together in a ball. (Note: I burned out the motor of my food processor last week and I'm still trying to decide which one I want to replace it with so I used my stand mixer instead and it worked fine. We won't talk about the fact that the stand mixer is starting to act up too right now. We're just going to ignore that fact and hope it decides to straighten up and fly right! ;o))

Turn the dough into the buttered pan and gently press it evenly across the bottom of the pan. Prick the dough with a fork and slide the sheet into the oven.

Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes, or until it takes on just a little color around the edges. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature before filling.

To Make the Filling:

Have a parchment or silicone mat-lined baking sheet at the ready, as well as a long-handled wooden spoon and a medium heavy bottomed saucepan.

Put the sugar and water in the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Keeping the heat fairly high, continue to cook the sugar, without stirring, until it just starts to color. Toss the peanuts and immediately start stirring. Keep stirring, to coat the peanuts with sugar. Within a few minutes, they will be covered with sugar and turn white—keep stirring until the sugar turns back into caramel. When the peanuts are coated with a nice deep amber caramel, remove the pan from the heat and turn the nuts out onto the baking sheet., using the wooden spoon to spread them out as best you can. Cool the nuts to room temperature.

When they are cool enough to handle, separate the nuts or break them into small pieces. Divide the nuts in half. Keep half of the nuts whole or in biggish pieces for the filling, and finely chop the other half for the topping.

Spread the dulce de leche over the shortbread base and sprinkle over the whole candied nuts.

To Make the Topping:

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Remove chocolate from the heat and gently stir in the butter, stirring until it is fully blended into the chocolate.

Pour the chocolate over the dulce de leche, smoothing it with a long metal icing spatula, then sprinkle over the rest of the peanuts. Slide the pan into the fridge to set the topping, about 20 minutes; if you’d like to serve the squares cold, keep them refrigerated for at least 3 hours before cutting.

Cut into 16 bars.

Notes: I think that the peanuts would make an excellent topping on vanilla ice cream. The dulce de leche would as well, but not paired with the nuts. The crust was good by itself, but I haven't figured out what I might use it for in the future, but I'll keep thinking about that!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Posted by Dianne at 7:55 AM | Comments (23) | TrackBack

Fried Dill Pickles

When I first heard of fried dill pickles a few years ago my first reaction was "Why???" I mean I love dill pickles in and of themselves, but fried? Then I actually tried one I was extremely surprised that they were pretty good. My sister loves them. When we told her we were doing a "fry" day she immediately asked both of us "You're making fried dill pickles right?" So we made some fried dill pickles, because what the pregnant lady wants, the pregnant lady gets! (Pregnant and dill pickles...Oh the stereotypes! ;o))

The batter for this version came completely out of my head. When I was thinking about making them I thought it would be nice to add dill into the batter to amp up the dill flavor. Leann and I both were very pleased with the result! We nibbled on quite a few as they came out of the fryer. Katherine liked them dipped in Ranch Dressing, but Leann and I both thought they were best on their own without any sauce. The things people do with dill pickles! ;o)

What You'll Need:
Sliced dill pickles (or what they call "hamburger chips"...I actually just sliced whole dill pickles myself.)
2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of dried dill
A pinch of black pepper
1 egg
1 cup of buttermilk

Preheat oil to around 350 F.

If you are using "hamburger chip" dill pickles drain them and set aside. If you're slicing them yourself slice and set aside.

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and stir to mix. Add egg and buttermilk and stir until a thick batter forms. If you need to add a bit more milk don't worry about it, it all depends on ambient humidity and such. If you need to add a bit more flour add it a tablespoon at a time until it's thick enough. You want the batter to be slightly thicker than pancake batter. When you insert a pickle into it it should stand up without really falling over.

Dip pickles into the batter and then place them in the fryer in a single layer. Turn them as they cook to ensure that they brown evenly on each side. You want them to be golden brown. Remove from the oil when they are slightly browned (they'll continue to brown a bit after you remove them from the oil) and drain on a paper towel. Serve alone or with Ranch dressing.

Notes: No notes for this one...It is a stand alone kind of thing!

Also today (and I'll have it up soon) this week's Tuesday with Dorie recipe! You'll get two recipes for the price of one today! ;o)

Posted by Dianne at 7:39 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

March 3, 2008

Let's Talk Some Fair Food or Otherwise Known as Leann and Dianne Have a "Fry" Day! Plus the Recipe for Vegtable Tempura and Soy Yogurt Dipping Sauce!

I've had a fryer for several years now. My mom got me one of those new fangled covered Fry Daddys with the built in air filter and though I don't use it that often (in fact the last time I used it was two years ago after Alexis' birthday party when we had a fish fry) it's fun to pull it out and play with it from time to time. My friend Leann got a Rival fryer and we decided right then and there we needed to get together one Saturday and just fry the heck out of everything! That Saturday was this past weekend and we had a ball!

In my fryer we made chicken fingers, fried dill pickles, tempura, french fries and pineapple eggrolls. I decided to try frying in light olive oil, as I had always wanted to try this, and I was very pleased in the results. In Leann's fryer we made corn fritters, honey mustard chicken fingers and corn dogs. Then we even heated up some light olive oil on the stove top and made some funnel cakes too! We had fair food galore and we nibbled as we cooked, and whipped up some dips as we went, including a soy yogurt sauce for the tempura, some ranch dressing for the corn fritters and some honey mustard dipping sauce for the chicken fingers and the french fries. It's fun to create as you go!

Needless to say this isn't something you want to eat everyday, but it's fun to do this sort of thing every once in a while, especially when you've been really good all week! We had some natural brewed root beer, some homemade lemonade and some natural cream sodas, we chatted, laughed and munched along the way! It was a great day all in all and over the next few days I'll be sharing the recipes with you! (On Tuesday you'll get the Tuesdays with Dorie recipe AND a "fry" day recipe!) So sit back, relax and get ready to enjoy some good old fashioned fried up food! ;o)

Up today...Tempura and Soy Yogurt Sauce! (Oh and forgive the lack of quality of the picture below. We got busy eating and I didn't get a picture of the Tempura so I zoomed in the picture of the spread above.)

What You'll Need for the Tempura:
1 cup of unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup of panko bread crumbs
1 egg
1 - 1 1/2 cups of ice water
Veggies of your choice (We did mushrooms, sweet onions, zucchini and squash. I had planned to do sweet potato and asparagus, but the process of frying everything we wanted to try took longer than we thought it would initially so we nixed those two as we went along.)

Preheat oil while you are preparing the batter and your veggies. I fried these around 350 F.

Wash mushrooms and dry them. Slice onions into rounds like you would for onion rings. Slice zucchini and squash into rounds. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl mix all ingredients together until batter forms. Dip veggies into the batter and place in the hot oil. Turn several times while frying. Remove when they are slightly golden.

Notes: The dipping sauce for tempura usually is rather salty so salt is not added to the batter. If you need to add more water do. It's all about humidity and such when you're dealing with flour. You want a slightly thick batter like you would make for pancakes that isn't overly runny. You can also use this method to make shrimp tempura.

What You'll Need for the Dipping Sauce:
1/2 cup of less sodium soy sauce
1/4-1/3 cup of Greek yogurt (Note: I used the fat free version.)
2-3 tablespoons of sesame oil

Whisk together ingredients and serve immediately with tempura.

Notes: The sesame oil gives the sauce a nice, nutty flavor, but if you don't care for sesame oil you could use olive oil instead.

Posted by Dianne at 6:14 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack