Homemade versus storebought

Last night, my husband and I had his parents over for dinner. For dessert, I wanted to try out this recipe that I had found in Cooking Light for Angel Food cake stuffed with whipped cream and berries. It looked like the perfect thing for a hot summer evening, and so when I went to make up my shopping list on Sunday night, I was really surprised at how the magazine made a potentially super-simple recipe into an enormous pain.

What did they do? Well, the recipe has you make your angel food cake and your whipped cream from scratch. What does it take to make angel food cake from scratch? 12 egg whites, for one thing. And then beating them until they're nice and fluffy.

To heck with that. I bought a box mix, a container of Cool Whip, and everything turned out deliciously. And making the cake took about 10 seconds (just add water) instead of a half and hour.

But this made me wonder...where do I draw the line between buying storebought things and making them myself? Because I had no qualms buying a box mix, but I didn't feel quite right buying the pre-made angel food cake from the bakery. And I make my own pie crust, but I make brownies out of the box. Which is strange; buying the Pillsbury pie crusts seems like cheating, but brownies from a box are delicious.

I think it might have something to do with the fact that pie crust is supposed to be hard to make, and there's a certain amount of baking prestige attached to making your own pies. And, the pie crust recipe I use lets me make the crusts in advance, then put them in the freezer until I need them. So I don't have to spend all the time making crust and pie at once.

I'm still not sure, though. Maybe I'll have to do some taste-testing. Now that would be a shame :)

Blenders, Smoothies, and Shakeratos

I get Bon Appétit every month, which is something that I look forward to. I'm not really a food snob, but I might be on the lower border of one. I don't aspire to be a food snob, and I don't look down on things like Kraft macaroni and cheese (hello, it's delicious), but when I cook at home, I tend to make things that are kind of complicated and involve cheeses other than American or cheddar.

Normally, the stuff in the magazine is interesting enough, and I usually cut out 5 or 6 recipes a month. Often, there is an article about food and travel that is pretty interesting and makes me want to leave the Midwest where we're a good day's travel from decent seafood. This month (August) had the added bonus of the travel article being told in cartoon by Marisa Acocella Marchetto, who writes cartoons for the New Yorker and whose husband (Silvano Marchetto) owns the Da Silvano restaurant in New York City. It's a lot of fun to read if you're into this sort of thing, and there are even some recipes included. One of the recipes is for a shakerato, which is what Italians drink in the afternoon. You take 1/2 c. hot espresso and 4 tsp. sugar and blend it in a blender. Add 1 c. of ice and blend for 15 seconds. Garnish with a lemon strip. I haven't tried it yet, but it seems like it could be a fun combination of sweet, coffee, cool, and tangy. This week's quote is courtesy of this comic--it's much funnier in context, but I still couldn't resist.

Speaking of blended drinks, I've been making fruit smoothies for breakfast and really enjoying them. I'm always struggling to eat enough fruits and vegetables every day, and I've found this is a pretty easy and tasty way to get a bunch of fruit and fiber without much effort or extra calories from sugar or ice cream. I take a peach, cut it up and remove the pit, and put it in the blender. Then I add a cup and a half of frozen berries (you can find them in the frozen section near the dessert toppings). Using individually frozen, unsweetened berries is the key to getting the correct smoothie consistency. And then I put in enough juice to fill up the blender about an inch and a half. I've used both lemonade and cranberry juice and they both taste great; I think citrus juices with a little tang work best.

You can use whatever kind of berries you want--if you use raspberries or blackberries, there will be seeds in the smoothie, which you may or may not want. The trick, I think, is using a mixture of fruit that provides a good smooth base and fruit that has concentrated flavor. Peaches and bananas are good base fruits; berries are good for providing the flavor. The result looks a lot like what you'd get from Jamba Juice, but a lot cheaper and you know everything that goes into it. Putting in this much fruit makes 2 almost-pint-sized smoothies--perfect if you want one now, one later, or if you want to share with a friend.

The one drawback is that you need a decent blender to make these. I have a KitchenAid, which works wonderfully, but if you're in the market for a blender (or if you just want to waste time on the Internet), you might want to check out Will It Blend? This awesome website advertises the Total Blender, demonstrating its power by blending object after object. The blender can handle hockey pucks, a can of EZ Cheez, a tiki torch, a Transformer--you name it, they've blended it. The latest thing to be blended is the iPhone, seen in this video:



I don't know if the blender is actually any good, but watching these videos sure is funny :)

What the heck is a buckle, anyways?

I like fruit desserts. Maybe it's because I think that there's a tiny chance that they may, in fact, be good for me after all. Regardless, I made this recipe a few nights ago, and it turned out really well.

The recipe calls for either fresh or frozen (then thawed and patted dry) fruit. I used fresh, but since that gets expensive, I think frozen would work well, too. In some recipes, it really makes a difference to the flavor, but since the berries are baked into the dough, the taste should be about the same.

This recipe can be found on p. 602-3 of The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

Individual Raspberry-Pistachio Buckles

3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. shelled pistachios
1/4 tsp. salt
4 T. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. fresh raspberries (or 2 c. frozen raspberries, thawed, drained, and patted dry)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 6 six-ounce ramekins and place on a rimmed baking sheet.

2. Process the sugar, pistachios, and salt in a food processor until finely ground, 10-15 seconds. Add the butter, eggs, and vanilla and process until smooth. Add the flour and baking powder and pulse until just barely incorporated, about 5 pulses. Divide the batter among the ramekins. Sprinkle the berries over the batter.

3. Bake until golden and the buckles begin to pull away from the sides of the ramekins, about 25-30 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving. Tastes great with vanilla ice cream.

Note: You can substitute blueberries and pecans for the raspberries and pistachios for a variation on this dessert.

So what is a buckle? It's a fruit dessert where the dough starts on the bottom and the fruit on the top, but in the course of baking, the fruit buckles into the dough.

My favorite casserole

This is a recipe that my mom made when I was growing up, and I love it. It came from the Betty Crocker cookbook, and is one of my favorites to make now that I have my own kitchen. My husband's brother goes deer hunting, and ground venison is a great, lean substitute for ground beef. Ground turkey works well, also.

Hamburger-Cheese Bake, aka Poor Man's Lasagna

1 pound ground beef
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 8-oz cans tomato sauce
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 c. uncooked medium noodles (I use egg noodles)
1 c. small curd cottage cheese
1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sour cream
1/3 cup sliced green onion
1/4 c. chopped green pepper (I leave these out...I don't like green peppers in casseroles very much)
1/4 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, cook meat and onion till meat is lightly browned and onion is tender. Stir in tomato sauce, sugar, salt, garlic salt, and pepper. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Combine cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, green onion, and green pepper.

Spread half the noodles in an 11x7 inch baking pan; top with a little of the meat sauce. Cover with cheese mixture. Add remaining noodles and meat sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

Requested recipes

Here are two recipes some of you have requested...

For Aunt B., Melted Rosemary Brie on Apple Wedges
This recipe originally came from Bon Appetit

2 large Granny Smith or Fuji apples, cored, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 10-ounce piece Brie, rind trimmed, cheese cut into thin slices
chopped fresh rosemary

Arrange apples on baking sheet. Top each with slice of Brie. Sprinkle with rosemary and freshly ground black pepper. (Can be made 1 hour ahead. Cover; let stand at room temperature.)

Preheat broiler. Broil apples uncovered until cheese melts, moving sheet for even cooking, about 1 minute. Transfer to platter; serve hot.

For M. & K., Never-Fail Pie Crust
This recipe is courtesy of Grandma P., and honestly, it lives up to its name. It's only been difficult for me once, and I think that was my fault. I use a Kitchenaid to make it, which makes it very fast and easy.

4 c. flour
1 T. sugar
1 c. Crisco
2/3 c. butter
1 tsp. salt

1 egg
1 T. vinegar
1/2 c. cold water

Mix flour, Crisco, butter, sugar, and salt until small pea-sized clumps form.

Add egg and vinegar. Add water until the dough pulls away as a ball.

May be kept in fridge for at least 1 week until used or frozen for a month or two. Makes 4 single crusts.

Peanut Sesame Noodles

For those of you who like Thai food, this recipe is awesome. It's spicy, has a peanut flavor, and can be made in less than a half an hour. We enjoyed it tonight as a main course; it would also be good as a starter or side dish. It is pretty spicy though, so if you like milder food, you will want to cut back on the red pepper flakes.

The original recipe called for thin linguine to use as the noodles, but our grocery store has a decent selection of some ethnic foods, and so I'm able to get Thai rice noodles to use instead for a more authentic flavor.

This recipe can be found on p. 243 of the latest Gourmet cookbook.

Peanut Sesame Noodles
Serves 6 as a side dish; 4 as a main course
Time: 30 minutes

For dressing
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
2 T. chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 medium garlic clove, chopped
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 1/2 T. sesame oil
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

For noodles
3/4 lb. dried thin linguine or spaghetti (Note: I used Thai rice noodles)
4 scallion, thinly sliced
1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/8-inch wide strips
3 T. sesame seeds, toasted

Make the dressing: Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
Make the noodles: Cook pasta in a 6-8 quart pot of boiling salted water until tender. Drain in a colander, then rinse well under cold water. Add pasta, scallions, bell peppers, and sesame seeds to dressing, tossing to combine. Serve immediately.

Enjoy! :)

Mascarpone Tart with Honey, Oranges, and Pistachios

Well, for Easter I tried this tart, and it was a big hit. Not only that, but it only required one bowl for mixing, which is always a plus :) I used my own pie crust, but you can use pre-packaged ones to save time. The end result looks very fancy, and is light and creamy.

The recipe is from the March 2007 issue of Bon Appetit. The recipe can be found online here.

Mascarpone Tart with Honey, Oranges, and Pistachios

Prep time: 25 minutes; Total: 1 hour 10 minutes (includes baking and cooling time)

8 servings

Ingredients:
1 refrigerated pie crust
2 large navel oranges
1 8 oz. container chilled mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 T. honey
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
2 T. chopped pistachios


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Press pie crust onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom; fold sides in and press to extend sides 1/4 inch above rim of pan. Pierce crust all over with fork. (Note: I used aluminum foil and pie weights so it didn't puff up.) Bake until golden brown, about 24 minutes. Cool completely on rack.

Meanwhile, grate enough orange peel to measure 1 1/4 tsp. Cut off remaining peel and pith from oranges. Slice oranges into thin rounds, then cut rounds crosswise in half. (Note: I left them as rounds b/c I liked the look better, but that made the tart more difficult to slice gracefully when serving.) Place orange slices on paper towels to drain slightly.

Combine mascarpone, cream, sugar, 1 T. honey, cardamom, and orange peel in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat just until blended and peaks form (do not overbeat or mixture will curdle). Spread filling evenly in cooled crust. Arrange orange slices atop tart in concentric circles; sprinkle with pistachios. Drizzle with remaining 1 T. honey and serve.

(Note: I made this the night before, and it worked quite well.)

Enjoy!!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake!

I made this cake a few weeks ago, and it was great. Not only that, but if you have a mixer, it's very easy, and it was one of the few recipes that I've been able to make in the suggested time on the very first time I made it. It uses fresh pineapple, which was a big draw for me...serving it with creme fraiche (or cream fresh as the stockboy at Cub called it...) adds a subtle, sophisticated touch.

The original recipe can be found on Allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 fresh pineapple - peeled, cored and cut into rings

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
2. Melt the butter. Brush a little bit of the butter on the inside of a 9 inch cake pan.
3. Mix 5 tablespoons of the butter with the dark brown sugar and 1/4 cup of the pineapple juice. Place this mixture in the bottom of the cake pan. Arrange the pineapple rings on the brown sugar mixture in a decorative pattern (be creative). Set pan aside.
4. Stir together the flour, salt, white sugar, and baking powder.
5. Separate the eggs. Beat the whites until stiff but not dry.
6. Beat two of the egg yolks until lemony yellow. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup pineapple juice, vanilla, and remaining melted butter. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Gently fold in the egg whites. Pour batter over the top of the brown sugar and pineapple rings.
7. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes then cover pan tightly with a serving dish and invert so that the pineapple side is up.

Enjoy!!

Slow-Cooker Chicken with Sausage and Corn

Here's another recipe from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook: Revised Edition, but I think it needs some tweaking. The recipe is for chicken breasts or thighs, cooked with kielbasa, corn, and red peppers in a crock pot. Both my husband and I really enjoyed the flavor, and thought it was a great way to spice up a chicken dish.

There were, however, some things that were just a bit off. Mostly, it had to do with how to serve it. The recipe calls for chicken with the bones and skin (allegedly to keep the moisture in the chicken), and some of the tough bits fall off the bone in the crock pot. This makes it difficult to eat the dish as stew. If you just serve the chicken, and then spoon the vegetables and sausage over it, you lose a lot of the vegetables in the broth and they go to waste. I think next time I might just try it with boneless/skinless chicken, and make sure that it stays submerged in the broth in the crock pot.

Two other things that weren't ideal--first, the broth gets a little oily (because of the sausage and chicken thighs, of course), so if you want to eat it as stew, you might want to work on cutting down on the fat, possibly by using chicken breasts and low-fat sausage. Also, it does take an hour of prep time before everything goes in the crock pot. So if you're expecting a dish where you just throw everything in a pot and you're done, this isn't it. The results are delicious though, so it's an hour well spent.

Oh, yeah. The original recipe calls especially for fresh corn, NOT frozen. Finding fresh corn at a reasonable price in the middle of January is not worth my time (if it's even possible), so I used frozen (*gasp*) and it turned out fine. So there.

If you want to try it out, the recipe is on p. 435 of the cookbook, otherwise, here is a slightly condensed version:

Slow-Cooker Chicken with Sausage and Corn

6 bone-in, skin-on split chicken breasts, or 12 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs, trimmed
salt and pepper
2 T. vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 c. chicken broth
1 lb. kielbasa, sliced into 1 inch chunks
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 c. frozen corn
1/4 c. flour
1.5 c. jarred roasted red peppers, cut into 1 inch strips
1/4 c. minced fresh parsley

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then brown both sides in a skillet with the oil for about 10 minutes. If using thighs, remove the skin, then place chicken in the slow cooker.

2. Discard most of the oil in the skillet, except for 2 tsp. Add the onions and 1/4 tsp. salt and cook 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in the garlic and cook for 15 seconds. Stir in 1 1/2 c. of the broth, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to a simmer, then pour into the slow cooker.

3. Add the kielbasa, thyme, and cayenne to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. After 3 hours, nestle the corn into the slow cooker around the edges, then replace the cover and continue to cook until the chicken is tender, about 1 hour.

4. Transfer the chicken to a large serving dish and tent loosely with foil. Set the slow cooker to high. Whisk the flour with the remaining broth until smooth, then stir into the slow cooker. Add the peppers, cover, and continue to cook 15-30 minutes longer until the sauce is thickened. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the vegetables and some of the sauce over the chicken and serve, passing the remaining sauce separately.

Pan-Fried Salmon Cakes

Last night for dinner, I made salmon cakes, which turned out quite tasty. The recipe calls for 1.5 pounds of salmon fillets, and both my husband and I agreed that while we liked the cakes quite a bit, they were more labor-intensive than simply marinading and grilling the salmon would be. During the winter, however, when grilling isn't an option, or just for a change of pace, this recipe is great.

But, I would like to complain about the time estimates in the recipe. 10 minutes of prep time and a total recipe time of 45 minutes is way too low, particularly for the first time you make it. Maybe I'm just a slow cook, but this is a problem I have noticed in recipes in general. I would like to issue a challenge to cookbook authors everywhere: make recipe times more accurate. Don't assume your readers are professional chefs. Don't cheat, and call for "1/3 cup chopped carrots" so you don't have to include chopping the carrots as part of the prep time. Don't give a time that is what someone who has made the recipe 60 times in a test kitchen will do. Give estimated times for recipes that will be close to what a moderately competent, first-time maker of the recipe can accomplish.

Anyways, if you're interested in trying it out, the recipe can be found on p. 251 of The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook: Revised Edition. Or, here it is, in a slightly condensed version:

Pan-Fried Salmon Cakes
1.5 pounds salmon fillets, skin removed
1 1/4 cups plain dried breadcrumbs
1/4 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. grated onion
2 T minced fresh parsley
1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1. Cut salmon into 1-inch chunks. Pulse the salmon in a food processor until finely minced, but before it is pureed or paste-like.

2. Gently stir 1/4 c. of the breadcrumbs, the mayo, onion, parsley, lemon juice, and salt into the salmon to form a cohesive mixture. Form the mixture into 8 patties. Lay the patties on a plate line w/ plastic wrap. Freeze, uncovered, for 15 minutes, or refrigerate, covered, for 3-8 hours.

3. Spread the flour, eggs, and remaining 1 c. breadcrumbs in three separate shallow bowls. Dredge each patty in flour, dip in the egg, and then coat with breadcrumbs.

4. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium high heat until shimmering. Cook patties until golden on both sides, 4-6 minutes, working in batches if necessary. Let the patties drain on paper towels before serving with lemon wedges.