Why I Haven't Posted Much Lately

I've been out of the country.

In Ocho Rios, Jamaica...

... and Tulum, Mexico...

... and Princess Cays, Bahamas...

... so I haven't had much time to post. Because there were many times I was doing what this guy is doing:



Can you ever forgive me?

Wordless Post: Pretty in P-Town

Double Chocolate Pecan Biscotti

Hi all! I'm back from my blogging hiatus. Things have been busy, and well... I have been lazy. I find that blogging is a challenge because of two things: 1. Taking photos while I'm cooking is a pain in the ass. 2. My photos suck. Anyone have any tips for me?

I actually had some leisure time today; it's been a lazy Sunday afternoon, but very productive. I woke up and ran a 5K race this morning. Then Cookie Monster and I came home and decorated our Christmas tree. He had to go to work, so I wrapped Christmas presents and wrote Christmas cards. After two episodes of Sex & The City, I got bored, and when I'm bored, I usually cook. So, I decided to make biscotti.

The batter was pretty easy; just a bunch of mixing and measuring, as usual. It was also really tasty. :) In hindsight, I should've just eaten the batter.

Here is the recipe!

From my Better Homes & Gardens 75th Anniversary Edition cookbook

1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat. That's all we have in the house. I don't buy AP flour anymore)
3/4 cup white baking pieces (I used pecans instead of these)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Lightly grease a cookie sheet. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on high for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa powder and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. ( I just used the mixer for all of it.) Stir in white baking pieces pecans and chocolate chips.


This is what the dough looks like before it's baked.



Shape dough into two 9-inch-long rolls. Place rolls on prepared cookie sheet; flatten slightly until about 2 inches wide.

Like this!
Here's a photo of the dough, along with my workstation. This is pretty typical of how it looks. Ingredients, cookbook (when I'm baking only), glass of vino, bottle of olive oil (that's actually olive oil in that Chianti bottle. I saved the bottle and use it for OI. It goes with my Italian-themed kitchen).
This is just how I roll.


Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 hour. (If desired, wrap cooled rolls in plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature.)


Here's what the dough logs looks like after baking:




Use a serrated knife to cut each roll diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Place slices cut side down on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for 8 minutes. Turn slices over and bake for 7-9 minutes more or until dry and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.


Also, don't forget about them in the oven and burn them, like I did. See? I burned the fucking biscotti. This is why I don't bake!
Please, send the kiddies outta the room. Here comes the potty mouth.
Fuck! Shit! Hell! Balls! Ohio!



But, I will not concede defeat. I ate them anyway. Carbon or not. That'll show 'em. They taste a little like campfire. But also pecan-chocolate biscotti.


Sigh.

Apple Pie

Our neighbors next door have an apple tree that hangs over our fence. Some of them fell into our yard. (Some of them fell from the tree when Cookie Monster pulled on them, but let's just keep that quiet. They're partly ours, right, since the tree hangs on our side of the fence?)


See? Here are said apples.

Peel and cut up the apples and cover with lemon juice as you're finishing cutting up the rest so they don't get too brown. Then combine with the sugar, flour and spices.

Roll out your pastry crusts. Clearly, mine can be termed "rustic." Sometimes that's also my word for "ugly."

Then dump in all the apples.


Then cover up the apples with another pie crust blanket. Nighty-night, little apples. When I see you again, you will be gooey and sugary and yummy!
Crimp the edges of the crust together with your fingers.
Make sure you score the blanket so steam can escape.


Wrap tinfoil around the edges so they don't burn. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes, then remove the foil and bake some more (about 20 minutes) until the top is golden brown.


Oh Yeah. There's some apple pie!




From the Better Homes & Gardens 75th Anniversary Edition
1 recipe Pastry for Double-Crust Pie
6 cups thinly sliced, peeled cooking apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons AP flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Crust:
2 1/2 cups AP flour (I usually use whole wheat since that's what we have)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening (I used butter since that's what I had)
8-10 tablespoons cold water

In a medium bowl, stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea-sized. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon water over part of the flour mixture; gently toss with fork. Push moistened dough to side of bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon water at a time, until all flour mixture is moistened. Divide in half; form each half into a ball.
On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten 1 dough ball. Roll dough from center to edges into a 12-inch diameter circle. Repeat with other half. Fill with pie filling and bake. Duh.

The Reason I Exercise

So, it's really no secret that I love food. I mean, I have a food blog, right? So, in order to maintain a 100-cough-ahem-cough-pound body, I have to exercise. Though I used to dread this, I actually like it now. It makes me feel good. So much so, that today, I ran 13.1 miles. Voluntarily. Yep, I ran a half-marathon. Nope, nothing was chasing me, I just ran 13 miles for fun. I've been training for this for some time, and I completed it today, in a time of about 2 hours and 20 minutes.
This was a big accomplishment for me. In junior high and high school, I was an "athlete" in just about every sport my school offered: swimming, track, volleyball, soccer, softball and tennis. Except sports and I don't really get along. See, I suck at organized sports. Pretty much all of them. It's just a fact that I've grown to accept. A 5'2" rotund frame does not a good athlete make. BUT, with running, there's no one to compete against, except me. I can run, and the only person who cares about my time is me. I run fairly slowly, but I ran 13.1 miles today. That's a lot. It was a long training for a really big thing; maybe one of the biggest accomplishments in my short little life to date. And I'm pretty proud of myself. I did it. I put in the time and effort, and today I reaped the rewards.
I consider myself a runner. And runners are athletes, no matter how tall they are.

Creme Brulee

I didn't have much experience with creme brulee until I visited Peohe's in Coronado (across the bay from San Diego) with my grandmother this summer. In fact, I don't recall ever tasting creme brulee until she ordered one for the table. (This is my soon-to-be 86-year-old grandmother who is diabetic. She has to have "a bite" of everything that's on the table. Apparently this is a genetic trait. I am the exact same way, as is my mother. I just want a taste of whatever's around.)

Anyhoo, Gramma ordered the macadamia nut creme brulee, and I promptly fell in love with this simple yet incredibly tasty dessert. I've been craving it ever since, and though I've had it at restaurants, I have read that it is incredibly easy to make at home. It is a bit time-consuming, but it's not hard.

I got the recipe from my classic cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens, 75th Anniversary Addition. Yes, I used a recipe for this. It's not something you can wily-nilly throw together.

I don't have small ramekins, so I used my two individual ceramic baking dishes. They worked just fine.

Here is the cream after being cooked. I refrigerated overnight to make sure it was chilled enough to go under the broiler.


Can you spot the flecks of real vanilla bean?

Close-up after going under the broiler for about 8-10 minutes. Some of the sugar got a little blackened, but that's ok. Most of it turned out hard and caramelized, the way creme brulee topping is supposed to be.


And the finished product! I was worried the custard would melt under the broiler, but it did beautifully. I moved my oven rack to the very top position, so they would be directly under the broiler. Then I cracked the oven door and literally watched the sugar until it was done. As you can see, it is a very thin margin of time between golden and beautiful and scrumptious, and blackened and burned and bitterly yucky.



This was my first shot at this dessert, and it turned out great! I'll definitely be doing it again, but next time attempting chocolate!

Here is the recipe:
2 cups half-and-half or light cream (I used whipping cream)
5 slightly beaten egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla (I used a whole vanilla bean)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 sugar

In a small heavy saucepan, heat cream over medium-low heat just until bubbly. Remove from heat; set aside.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine egg yolks, the 1/3 cup sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat with a wire whisk until just combined. Temper the egg mixture by slowly beating a small amount of cream into egg mixture. Continue until all cream has been incorporated.

Place into ramekins or ceramic vessels, diving custard mixture evenly among them, into a cookied sheet or baking dish. Place dish onto oven rack. Pour enough boiling water into dish to reach halfway up the sides of cooking vessels. Bake in a 325 oven for 30 to 40 mintues or until a knife near the center of each custard comes out clean. Remove dishes from water; coll on a wire rack. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or for up to 8 hours. (I chilled overnight.)

Here is where I deviated from the main recipe. It says to carmelize the sugar in a saucepan, the pour over custards. This is the boring method. Instead I sprinked sugar over the entire top of the custards, making a thin layer. Then I did the aforementioned broiler step, watching those suckers the whole time.

This was a freakin' awesome dessert, albeit one made rarely. Don't be afraid; go for it!

Fine Dining

And now, for a little change of pace here at ChezVCK...


The sun, sinking lower and lower, reflects off the crystalline water a million times a second. Red fades into orange fades into pink fades into blue fades into finally black depths. The castle keeps sentinel over the tiny town this evening, just another night watch in its schedule of thousands over the centuries. A man peeks from within the fortress, which now provides the town with a different form of comfort. From his perch, he tosses stale bread into the glistening sea. It begins to churn white as hundreds of small fish battle for a crumb or two. Slowly the bread dissipates, and when it’s gone, the waters calm. Peace returns and just the hypnotic lapping of waves is audible, like there was never any disturbance at all. A nearby fisherman, his face leathered but content, watches the scene for a minute, then returns his attention to his pursuit. He reels in a small prize and calls out to his companion. “Gatto,” he says melodically, almost in pitch, and the cat ambles over to examine his dinner. He bats at the fish a few times, as if to inspect its quality. Satisfied, he sits and dines like a king. The sun acquiesces and disappears into the water, leaving traces of muted colors. They too fade, and all is quiet.

Zucchini Balls! (And yes, I am alive)

Tee hee! Balls!

Ok, now that I have that out of my system...

I found these adorable 8-ball zucchini at the farmers' market. Mostly I had to try one because... well, it's a freakin' ball o' zucchini.

I started by cutting each in half and hollowing out with a spoon, but not digging out too much that they lost their shape.



Then I sauteed the innnards with some onions and garlic. When they were mostly soft, I cut up half a Tofurkey sausage into bite-sized chunks and threw that in too. I threw in some tomato sauce to complete the stuffing and spooned some into each baby zuke.

Then I sprinkled parmesan cheese over the top. Because you cannot have Italian-type cuisine without cheese. Really. It's a law in Italia. When Italians are feeling especially patriotic, you can hear shouts of Formiggi Sempre! walking down the street.

I baked it in the toaster oven 'til the flesh of the ball (giggle! ok, so not completely out of the system) was tender but not soft.

Since I had only used half of the Tofurkey, I just ate the other half alongside the zuke.


Stuffed Zucchini 8-ball! A hole-in-one!



(Wait a minute. That's the wrong sport!)

VCK Marinara Sauce

Here is something I make a lot. I like to make my own marinara sauce because I know exactly what's in it. Plus, it doesn't take too much time and it's easy.

I start by sauteeing up onions and whatever vegetables are around. Usually this ends up being carrots, bell peppers and zucchini. Then I add a shit-ton of garlic. This is a precise measurement, people. Not one clove, not 3 Tablespoons, but a "shit-ton."

Then I add a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes, lots of S&P and some dried herbs--usually basil and oregano. Sometimes parsley, but only if I'm feeling daring. I usually also add parmesan or other hard cheese rinds that I freeze just for this occasion. If you've ever wondered what to do with your inedible cheese rinds, you've found the place. It adds a really yummy flavor. You just gotta fish it out before you serve it, lest someone end up with a soggy cheesy remnant.

Sometimes I can't find the large can of crushed tomatoes, so I get diced or even whole and just squish 'em up with my hands. This can be fun, and quite cathartic if you're frustrated with someone. Just imagine the slippery tomato is that person's slimy head you're crushing. Really, it makes you feel better!

Then, essentially I let it simmer for a really long time.



See? That's the rind in there.

Today I had some fresh spinach that needed to be used up, so I chopped it up and added it to the sauce. You can't taste 99% of this stuff once it gets incorporated. It's like chili. Everything ends up tasting like chili. All the vegetables do here is lend some sweetness (in the carrot's case) and nutrients to the sauce.

I usually let it simmer away for at least an hour. Mind you, this is mostly inactive time. You don't have to babysit, just reduce the heat a lot, pop on a lid and let it go. You don't have to do it this long, but it helps the flavor.


Then I use it for whatever! Pasta, pizza sauce, etc. Once I even made "eggs in purgatory," a dish where you poach eggs in the tomato sauce. (Kinda like this one.) I served it over some garlic bread and it was awesome.

If I'm not planning to use the sauce right away, I just put it in the freezer. Voila!

The Omnivore's Hundred

Here is a fun activity. It is a list of 100 food items that I have, have not, or refuse to try. Taken from Very Good Taste, it's kinda like a MySpace survey, but with food!

Yes, I am a dork.

Ok, here we go!

P.S. There will be a lot of stuff crossed out, considering my half-assed vegetarian status. Meh. I'm ok with it.

Here’s what I want you to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare  
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich (these composed the majority of my diet between the ages of 4 and 9) 
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (Mostly because of the Big Mac. McDonald's is gross)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (I've had a vodka one of these. Blech. I do not like dirty martinis.)
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (I so want to try this!)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (I have NO IDEA what this is. I looked it up online and could only find a reference to a type of metal)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (My dad often joked with me when I was a kid that he was making snake soup for dinner. Does this count?)

Mango-Banana Popsicles

So we've been having a heat wave as of late. We are not used to 90 and 100 degree days here, so lots of people complain when it's that hot. I am not one of those people. It doesn't stay that hot for very long, and our winters last about six months, so I relish the hot summer days because I know they are few and far between. That being said, that doesn't mean I don't want to cool off when it's that hot!

I made these mango-banana popsicles as a healthy treat to cool off with. All I did was puree frozen mango chunks with a banana and some sparkling water in a blender, then add some Splenda 'til it was a little sweetened. Then I poured the mixture into an ice-cube tray and inserted toothpicks for handles.

Voila! Easy, healthy popsicles for a warm summer's day!

My garden's bounty!

Here are some beautiful things that came out of my garden:

Aren't they pretty?

Homemade pretzels!

Ok, so I think we've established that I am not a baker. I am a cook. I have not the patience to measure everything just so. I am, like my sidebar says, a "throw it in there and it will probably taste good" type of cook. So things like making bread--or really just using yeast in general--are intimidating to me. I can make a batch of cookies or a cake, but they never turn out as good as my cooking concoctions. But I have been trying to branch out, and when I saw this recipe over at Sugarlaws, I was sold.

Who ever thinks about making soft pretzels at home? Soft pretzels are something you buy with neon-orange "cheese product" at a baseball game, or from a stand in the mall. It makes me laugh that making something like this at home never really occurred to me. When I saw her post, I was like, "Oh yeah! I guess you can make that stuff at home."

And guess what? It was really easy.

Here we have my pretzel-making assembly line. Once the dough has risen and rested, you roll it out into long logs. Here I am rolling the logs. Look at my fat little hands! Neither of my parents are tall, and I inherited all that is short and squatty. My feet are so wide they're nearly webbed, my torso is short and round, I stand 5'2" on a good day, and my hands match the rest of me.




Next, you take the pretzel dough-logs and twist them into pretzel shapes. No need to be perfect here--these are homemade and can therefore be termed "rustic," which is what I like to call "I have no idea how to make a pretzel shape, so here's my best go at it."

After they're rolled, the pretzels take a short bath in a mixture of baking soda and warm water. Then they're sprinkled with salt. Their rustic appearance doesn't matter, because once they come out of the oven looking like this, you wouldn't care if they resembled Godzilla. All you wanna do is cram them in your face. Really, they are best warm right out of the oven. And with a touch of dijon or Monastery Mustard, they are simply delightful.



Ok, Mr. Pretzel, you're ready for your close-up.

Zucchini Sticks and Pasta with Herb Sauce

Here we have a lovely zucchini straight from ChezVCK garden! Those snap peas are also from the garden!

Watch out, zucchini. I'm gonna eat you!

Here is the zucchini stick-making assembly line. Fried zucchini is a very delicious food that I would love to consume. However, eating fried food makes my pants very angry. In protest, they refuse to fit me anymore. So, I have adapted fried zucchini in a different way, making it taste like fried zucchini without actually frying it. (Ssshh... don't tell my pants.)

Instead of dredging the zuke slices in egg, as is typical, I just used a bit of vegetable stock to make sure the breading adhered. This saves some calories too!

After I dredged the zuke sticks in the veggie stock, I dipped them in a mixture of Italian bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese.

See?
Then I put them all into neat little rows on a cookie sheet sprayed with a little cooking spray, so they won't stick.

And this is how they turned out after a short stint in a hot oven. I think it was about 15 minutes at 400 or so.
I served the zucchini sticks alongside some whole wheat pasta and a tofurkey dog. For the pasta, I made a simple pesto-like sauce. I grabbed some fresh herbs from my garden--chives, basil and oregano--and buzzed it all together in the food processor with some olive oil, veggie stock and good ol' S&P. It was really simple and really tasty. Finished with more parmesan cheese, it was done!

De-lish!