Mama's Moving!

In a few days, hubby and I will embark on a 1,000 mile journey as we travel to South Louisiana. This time, it isn't a vacation; we're moving home! I had hoped to be able to post one final thing before packing up my kitchen, but alas, it won't be so. I'll be absent for about a week; I've already got plans for a July 4th BBQ.

See you in a few!
-Mama Sarah

Jacques Pepin's Black Bean Soup

I don't have cable anymore, which sadly means I don't get Food Network. Luckily, IPB has a channel called Create that features many amazing cooking shows. One of my favorite chefs on Create is Jacques Pepin. He's wonderful. I was absolutely thrilled when I found one of his cookbooks at the used bookstore I frequent.
Shortly after purchasing the cookbook, hubby requested black bean soup. Lo and behold, the cookbook had one. Score! I've always had black bean dishes in a spicy context, so I approached the recipe with some trepidation. Hubby likes spicy, so I feared he would reject this Frenchman's soup.
My fear was misplaced. Hubby and I both enjoyed the soup. It's versatile, which is always a good thing in my book.

Black Bean Soup
(Jacques Pepins Kitchen: Cooking with Claudine pg 240-241)

• 1 lb dried black beans
• 3 quarts cool water
• 1/2 cup brown rice (I used basmati as that's all I had)
• 8 oz pancetta or very lean, unsmoked bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I forgot this)
• 2 medium onions, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 8 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 tbsp herbes de Provence
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (I substituted with apple cider vinegar)
• 1 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce (I used a similar hot sauce)

Remove and discard any debris or damaged beans, and wash the remaining beans well in cool water. Drain beans, place in a bowl, cover with cold water, and soak overnight or for 12 hours.

Drain the beans and place in a large pot with 3 quarts of cool water. Add rice and pancetta. Bring to a boil over high heat, uncovered, for approximately 20 minutes; stir occasionally. Skim off and discard any foam that rises to the top. Reduce heat to very low, cover, and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Add onions, garlic, herbes de Provence, chili powder, tomatoes, and salt to the pot, then stir well. Bring to a boil. reduce heat to very low, cover, and cook for an additional 1 1/2 hours.

Using a hand bledner, emulsify the mixture in the pot for 5 to 10 seconds. Alternatively, you may remove 2 cups of the mixture and puree it in a food processor, returning it to the pot. You want to thicken the soup a bit, but preserve its chunkiness. (I omitted this step)

In a small bowl, mox together the oil, vinegar, and Tabasco. Add to the soup.

Note: This makes a good deal of soup, so you can freeze half for later use.
Note 2: If you feel the soup is a tad bland, try adding a bit more salt. Since I didn't use bacon or pancetta, at first my soup lacked.. After adding a smidgeon more salt, it was SO much better.

Hasselback Potatoes

Every so often, there seem to be fads in the foodblog community. The latest one appears to be Hasselback potatoes. Who doesn't like potatoes? Who doesn't want to know a million delicious ways to prepare them? Hasselback potatoes are very simple to make, as well as tasty and visually appealing to boot. Hubby and I both really enjoyed them!




Hasselback Potatoes

• 1 large potato per person (or a couple smaller potatoes per person)
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 2 pats of butter per person

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Thoroughly wash the potatoes and pat them dry. If using a larger potato, it's handy to figure out which side is sturdier (meaning the potato will wobble less while you cut). Using a sharp knife, cut down almost all the way through the potato, but leaving a 1/4 inch or so intact; the potato should stay in one piece. Cut slots every 1/4 inch or so. Repeat with other potatoes.

Place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place 2 pats of butter on each potato. Bake for 45 minutes.

* You can season these any way you'd like, adding herbs or garlic or whatever else you desire. Try slipping garlic or onions into each or every other slot. The possibilities are nearly endless.

Spiced Lemon Chicken

Growing up, I ate ALOT of chicken, which resulted in my not being a fan of the meat. I refuse to order it at restaurants and rarely tend to cook it at home. So, when I craved some chicken, I decided I should probably make some. I know I'm giving the bird a bad rep; it isn't all dry and tasteless.. I even have a bunch of recipes stockpiled to showcase chicken. So yesterday afternoon, I tried this recipe, which looked rather simple and seemed to have potential. I served it with some delicious fresh green beans and the delicious chive parsley potatoes.


While the meal was pleasant, the chicken didn't particularly wow us. After some tweaking of the marinade, I'd probably serve it again. Hubby (Mr. Spicey-hot Food Man) felt it didn't have enough flavor; I felt it was a bit too lemony.

Spiced Lemon Chicken

• 1 - 2 lbs chicken breasts
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 head of garlic, peeled with cloves intact
• 1 tsp ground cardamom, or 10 crushed cardamon seeds
• 1 tsp ground coriander, or 1 tsp crushed coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1/2 tsp ground tumeric
• 6 tbsp olive oil

Using a fork, poke holes in the chicken. Place in a tupperware container or gallon baggy.

Prepare marinade by combining lemon juice and zest, garlic, cardamom, coriander, chili flakes, tumeric, and olive oil. Pour over chicken. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 475F. Remove chicken from marinade and place in a baking dish. Bake 25-30 minutes.

Apple Crisp

Many months ago, my supervisor requested apple crisp. I completely forgot until recently, when I made a list of things to bake before I leave. Looking through recipes, I realized there are two schools of thought: 1 involves those who put oats in their crisp and 1 that does not. What to do, what to do. Finally, I just asked the supervisor, because I didn't want to disappoint him. He's of the second, no-oats kind of man. Most of the recipes were really similar, so I went with this one, which is someone's grandmother's so it has to be good right? Right. Grandma's know best, especially this one.
Now, the original recipe called for granny smith apples, but I decided to go with a mix of granny smiths and jonagold. I didn't want the dish to be too tart, plus I thought the slightly different textures would create different stages of softness for the apples. I think the apple combo turned out quite well.


Apple Crisp

• 3 lbs apples, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices (I used 4 jonagold and 4 granny smiths)
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 tbsp flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 8 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and diced
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed

Preheat oven to 375F. Butter a large casserole dish with 1 of the 8 tbsp of butter.

In a large bowl, toss the apple slices, lemon juice, 1 1/2 tbsp flour, sugar, and cinnamon until the apples are nicely coated. Transfer to the baking dish, making sure they are nicely packed down.

In the same bowl, combine the 2/3 cup flour and brown sugar. Using a pastry knife/cutter/blender (this thing) or your hands, cut in the butter. You want to make a loose crumble (it'll look like coarse sand).

Sprinkle the crumble evenly over the top of the apples.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the sides of bubbly. Let cool for 1 hour before serving. Best served warm, and perhaps over ice cream.

This is delicious. And Amazing. A wonderful comfort food. A delicious ice cream topping. Please make it; you won't regret it.

Farmers' Market

Twice a month, there's a huge farmers' market downtown. This Saturday was the first one of the summer, and my friend Katy and I had been planning to attend for months. Saturday morning, we were concerned to see a rainy sky, but luckily, the market was still on. We had a great time checking out the assortment of flowers, produce, and general crafts. I snagged some gorgeous lettuce, asparagus, and scallions, as well as a mass of oyster mushrooms. Even though it was rainy and our shoes and socks squelched with water, we had a wonderful time.


I decided to make little tarts with the asparagus, scallions, and mushrooms. I basically followed the same recipe as the Asparagus Gruyere Tart, except I used crumbled chevre (goat cheese) instead of gruyere and made 6 mini tarts instead of 1 large one. I also sauteed the asparagus and onions in butter first to soften them up a bit, as well as to mellow the flavors.


Farmers' Market Tarts

• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• 1/2 bunch of asparagus, chopped into 1 - 2 inch pieces
• 3 large scallions, sliced in 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 tbsp butter
  
• handful of oyster mushrooms, coarsely chopped
• grape tomatoes (approximately 2 per tart)
• 1/2 cup crumbled chevre
• olive oil

Preheat oven 350F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough until it is approximately 16 by 12 inches. Use the mini-tart pan to cut the pastry into shape. To create an outer edge, gently press a drinking glass into the center of the pastry, making only an indentation (not cutting through the pastry). With a fork, poke many, many holes in the inner circle. This will (hopefully) cause the edge of the pastry to inflate while keeping the center deflated. Place the prepared dough into the mini tart pans and bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until lightly golden and fluffy.

While the dough is baking, melt butter in a skillet. Over medium heat, saute the asparagus and onions until they start to soften (approximately 7 minutes).

Using a sharp knife, score an X into one end of each tomato, cutting about halfway through.

After the pastry is lightly golden, remove from the oven. Brush lightly with olive oil. Place a few asparagus spears and scallion pieces on each tart. Add 2 tomatoes per tart. Sprinkle with chevre, then place a piece or two of mushroom on top.

Bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the pastry is a deep golden hue.

Lasagna

Growing up, we only ever had frozen lasagna that took forever to bake and was never warm in the center. Needless to say, lasagna was never one of my favorite foods, yet I always felt it should be since it seems to beloved. I always imagined what lasagna could be: a heady mix of spices and herbs with the heartiness of the meat and cheese complemented by the tangy zest of tomatoes. When I came across Pioneer Woman's lasagna (the best ever, she claims), I thought I had hit the lasagna jackpot. Finally, the lasagna void of my childhood would be filled!!


It looked nice, smelled nice, but was just that. Nice. I wasn't wowed or amazed or felt any stirring of a future craving. Now, hubby loved it. And we both agree it was much better after sitting in the fridge overnight. Would I make this again? Perhaps, for hubby's sake. But, my search for THE lasagna continues..

Pioneer Woman's Lasagna

• 1 1/2 lbs lean beef (I used 2 lbs)
• 1 lb hot breakfast sausage (such as Jimmy Dean)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 14.5oz cans whole tomatoes
• 2 6oz cans tomato paste
• 2 tbsp dried parsley
• 2 tbsp dried basil
• 1 tsp salt
• 10 oz package of lasagna noodles
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups lowfat cottage cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup Kraft Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 lb sliced mozzarella
  

In a large skillet, brown the sausage, beef, and garlic. Drain most of the fat.

At this point, depending on the size of your skillet, you may need to transfer to a large pot. (I had to.) Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 tsp salt, and 2 tbsp each parsley and basil. Mix well and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally.

While the meat mixture is simmering, prepare the lasagna noodles by boiling a pot of water with the tbsp of olive oil and 1/2 tsp of salt. Add the noodles (you'll probably have to do some tricky arranging here to get them all to fit underneath the water) and boil however long the package tells you. 8 minutes, I believe. Drain and let cool.

While the meat and noodles are cooking away, prepare the cheese mixture by combining the cottage cheese, eggs, parmesan, 2 tbsp parsley, and salt. Stir until well combined.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a 9x13 baking dish, layer the ingredients. Start by laying down 4 noodles, overlapping them. Spread over half of the cheese mixture, then top with half of the mozzarella. On top of that, spoon half of the meat. Repeat. Sprinkle parmesan across the top and bake for 20-30 minutes.

Rosemary Apple Cake

Today was crummy. For some reason, I was super irritated my entire work day. Of course, I cheered myself up with some good ol' baking. First, I took the dry left-over pound cake and made a bread pudding of sorts with it. I'm still not sure how I feel about it and if I'll post it. We'll see.


Over the weekend, I bought some rosemary for supper. I've seen many recipes utilizing rosemary in desserts (cakes, cookies, etc) and happened across an apple cake with a rosemary syrup which I thought would take great advantage of the apples that have been hanging out in the fridge for quite awhile as well as the left-over rosemary.

The taste of rosemary is very low-key, barely there. The cake is so very, very moist, and the apples add a cloying touch to the simple sweetness.



Rosemary Apple Cake
(Rustic Apple Cake with Rosemary Syrup, by Deborah Mele)

• 2 medium-large apples, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 sprigs rosemary
  

In a heavy skillet, melt 2 tbsp butter. Add apples, cinnamon, and 3 tbsp sugar, stirring to coat the apples in the spices. Cook until the apples begin to become brown and tender. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease and flour an 8 inch springform pan.

In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup butter (softened), 1 cup sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each one.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold into batter, just until incorporated. Fold in the apple mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer (or knife) comes out clean. The top of my cake started to brown really quickly, so after about 20 minutes I threw some foil over the top which helped.

15 minutes after you've put the cake in the oven, bring the 1/2 cup sugar, water, and rosemary to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let sit 15 minutes. Strain the syrup and discard the rosemary.

While the cake is baking, combine the sugar, rosemary, and 3/4 cup of water into a small pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for an additional 15 minutes. Strain the syrup, discarding the rosemary.

Using a skewer, poke holes in the cake approximately 1 inch apart. Pour half of the rosemary syrup over the cake. Allow it to sit and absorb for 15 minutes, then pour the rest of the syrup over it.

Cool completely and remove from pan.