Tortillas and Tarragon ... and other fine things

Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

2011-03-11T08:06:00.001-08:00

I really shouldn't call this a chocolate chip recipe. This is a "got a lot of stuff in it" cookie recipe. I've been working on this recipe for a couple of years, and I'm pretty happy with where it is now. As those of you who follow my business and marketing blog and site, I am also a part of Teri Mason Photography (Google it and see how fantastic she is). While I focus on marketing and biz ops, I find any and every opportunity to utilize my chef skills in some form or fashion. We have, for quiet a number of years now, provide a nice platter of cookies and custom designed water bottles for those clients of Teri's who come in for sales sessions. We've had quite a positive response over the years. Fantastic portraits projected over the big screen, and scrumptious cookies to munch on while watching your loved ones in the slide presentation. Oh yeah, and for the big spenders, we somehow seem to find a nice bottle of wine or two, appetizers, and various sweets.

OK ... on to the Recipe and method:

8 oz of real, unsalted butter
3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
3/4 cup of organic white sugar
1/4 cup of organic molasses
3 free range eggs
1 tsp of good quality vanilla
3 cups of organic white flour (great deal on this at Costco)
1 cup of rolled oats
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher or sea salt (using iodized salt gives a chemical taste)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (use a good quality)
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp of ground ginger
2 cups of dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans, I like both)

Preheat your carefully calibrated oven to 375 degrees.

Sift the dry ingredients of flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. After sifting, add the flaxseed meal and rolled oats, then set all the dry stuff aside.

In a mixer, such as a Kitchenaide or Cuisinart, cream the brown sugar, white sugar and butter. Now this is not quite as straight forward as some people think. Start off slowly with the mixer on the lower couple of speeds, and then gradually build up the speed to one of the higher speeds. Stop occasional to scrape the bottom with a spatula. If you have one of those scraping paddles like they make for the Kitchenaide, it is a very big help. When your sugar and butter is ready, it will be a creamy light color with almost no granularity at all. Add one egg, then mix it in thoroughly. Add another, mix. Finally add the third and mix, slowly building up the speed to cream the mixture again. Add the vanilla and molasses and mix, slowly at first, then building up the speed to almost high to get a really good creamy mixture. It is very important that the mixture have the correct consistency before adding the dry ingredients. Now add the dry ingredients about 1/3 at a time, mixing thoroughly before adding the next 1/3. Mix slowly until well combined. Take the bowl off of the mixer and scrape the paddle of all the little goodies that get stuck to it. Add the chocolate chips, raisins, and nuts. Mix well with your spatula. Each scoop should have a bit of everything in it when placed on the baking sheet.

Now using your large cookie sheet covered with a sheet of parchment paper (always, always use parchment paper, which is NOT wax paper), scoop out equal portions, four rows of three scoops, about an 1/8 cup or more per cookie. Bake at 375 for 13-15 minutes or until just getting brown around the edges. Remove from oven and place the entire cookie sheet on the cookie rack to cool. When it has cooled enough and you can hold the cookie sheet with your bare hands, then you can slide the parchment paper with all of the cookies still on it onto the cooling rack.

You should be able to get between 4 or 5 dozen cookies with this recipe, depending on how large your cookies are. The dough will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, but I'd make sure I used it all up in that amount of time, or toss it. Just doesn’t seem as fresh after a few days, so I usually will make fresh rather than use something that’s been around for too long.

Feel free to add things you like to this recipe, or remove things you don't. However, give them a try as it is written before you make any adjustments. They are pretty darn good as they are.

Enjoy!

A kinder, gentler and more bad a** Cuisinart Food Processor

2010-09-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

As usual, I've gone far too long without posting anything in my blog. Going to have to change that and get those recipes going. New addition on the house is now built, and while I've got some outside projects to do, such as building a new chicken coop and rebuilding my greenhouse, I should be able to find the time to write a bit more.

One thing to note, and then I'll be on to the review. I'm going to start a companion blog that will focus on different diets with respect to various athletic endeavors, as well as plans for weight loss. What I hope to accomplish is to get folks on track with their current diets and help them to achieve the goals they set. I'll also look at promoting locally raised produce, meats and poultry, as well as the use of naturally raised and organic (and the difference between the two) on both blogs. I know around Central Texas, we have a great resource with our farmers' markets, and would like everyone to experience them and keep their money local.

Onward to the review. My first ... and most recently deceased ... food processor was the venerable Cuisinart Deluxe 11. It served me well for many years and was at the top of its game when I got it. Because of the catering that I do, and the many cheesecakes that I make, it finally gave up the ghost. Without a doubt, the food processor is the greatest tool for making a very dense cheesecake. It thoroughly mixes everything without adding a bunch of air to the batter, such that a mixer would do. However, the Deluxe 11's motor couldn't handle the strain, and the bowl would barely hold the 3 lbs of cream cheese and the other ingredients. So I ended up smoking the motor. Anyone that needs a bowl, cover, and other accessories for a Deluxe 11, give me a ring. I'll let them go really cheap (read:free).

So after a bunch of research, I purchase the Cuisinart DFP-14BCN 14 cup Food Processor. That's a mouthful, I know. I looked at a bunch of different food processors and read the reviews, but for the cost, this one fit the bill. I'd have liked to have purchased a RoboCoup, but that was just a bit too outside my budget (actually a lot outside my budget) for a home based food processor (that can double for catering as well). One thing I found is that too many food processors try to be really sleek and stylish, costing double what the 14 BCN cost, and not having near the wattage or power. The 14 BCN is a workhorse that has 720-watts, ample power for anything you will build at home. There is nothing really sleek about the black and chrome square base, but it is stylish in a sexy, utilitarian kind of way. The 14-cup Lexan work bowl and extra-large feed tube make it very useful for someone who has a need to prepare lots of food quickly. I like the large bowl. With the older food processor, I would make a nice mess when making a cheesecake as the ingredients put it at max capacity. The 14 BCN gave a light sigh, took in all in stride, had lots of extra space, and kind of just told me, "What else you got for me this evening?" Very nice. And when you want the blade to stop, you press stop ... and it stops on a dime.

Something else about this machine. While food processors, by their very nature, are a bit difficult to clean, this one is pretty easy. It has fewer parts than the older one, and the parts just fit together better. They are easy to clean by hand, but also are dishwasher safe (my normal MO). And it's also very quiet. I like to be able to listen to music and actually hear the song while my equipment is running.

Finally, there is the issue with regards to price. I was quite satisfied with the price at most all of the places I looked, both online and off. The department stores had their 50% markup compared to the price directly from Cuisinart, and there were some decent prices on Ebay (one price that seemed too good to be true, was ... and we got our money back, but that is another story). I finally decided on Bed, Bath and Beyond. Their price was exactly the same as Cuisinart's direct order price of $199.00, yet I didn't have to pay for shipping. Other places offered it a bit less, but shipping actually made it more expensive, so I was still doing good with BBB. My lovely wife told me to look online for a coupon (something I rarely do), and I found a 20% off on one item at BBB, printed it out and took it with me. All said and done, I paid under $175.00 which was less than any of the prices I saw online, before shipping.

Needless to say, I'm happy with this purchase. I'd recommend this product to any home cook that plays a lot in the kitchen. It will definitely hold up to most domestic abuse.

I hope this review was helpful to anyone looking for an effective food processor. I plan on doing some other equipment reviews in the future. Let me know if there is something you would like to see reviewed.

2010-03-16T16:19:00.001-07:00

It's coming. Stay tuned.

Real Food Rants and Ancho Ketchup

2009-07-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

It has been way too long since I last posted a blog entry, so I may put at least two recipes in this one. Teri and I just finished a nice baked chicken with a root veggie gratin that was very basic, but tasted oh so good. This morning, I had a nice bowl of chopped, fresh fruit with yogurt and honey (and I use organic yogurt without all the thickeners and sweeteners that the ugly store bought stuff has). Point being, it really is easy to eat well, and healthy. I’m currently reading a book by Michael Pollan called “In Defense of Food.” I can’t recommend this book highly enough. If anyone wants to see what motivates me to cook real food, read this book. Food should be something that has real ingredients that you can pronounce. Food should be grown by a local farmer or rancher, not shipped in from New Zealand (though I do like NZ lamb, a lot). Of all the states in the US, Texas has an incredible amount of natural and locally grown produce and meats. Buy it, and cook it. Pollan suggests that if your grandmother or great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize it, don’t eat it. I agree with this up to a point, as there are some fabulous fruits and vegetables available that were not always easily available way back when. My wife suggested that jicama wasn’t something one ran down to the store to buy in our grandmothers’ time, (hard to believe in Texas), but it is a wonderfully tasty root vegetable that can be peeled and sliced, and eaten with a squeeze of lime juice. It is very nutritious as well. Even if getting to the farmers’ market isn’t something that is convenient, at least spend most of your shopping time in the fruit and vegetable section and the outside isles of the grocery store. STAY OUT of the middle isles which are nothing but processed foods for the most part. I call them the cancer and heart attack isles. Pollan has a subtitle to his book that I think is very appropriate. “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.” While I’m a meat eater, and a hunter and fisherman to boot, we Texans eat entirely too much protein (and I am guilty of it as well). I’m not going to advocate we give up our proteins, but rather make sure we add a lot of the foods our bodies have been nourished by for hundreds of thousands of years (And to quote my friend, Greg Hodges, train, train, train!). I don’t believe our distant ancestors ate too much processed flour and sugar.

That rant out of the way, I think I should add a recipe or two. My wife makes fun of the fact that I’d rather make my own condiments than buy the chemically heavy substances they sell at the store that pass for things like ketchup. So my first recipe will be Ancho Ketchup. Next time you buy ketchup at the grocery store, read the ingredients, understanding that they are listed from most used to least. You will find lots of sugar type substances, such as high fructose corn syrup, which is a very unnatural substance that even in small amounts causes some serious insulin problems within our bodies, regardless of what the idiotic commercial says. I’m going to go to the recipe before I get off on another rant about sweeteners. Use real sugar, unprocessed (organic if possible) for a sweetener, for goodness sakes.

One more note. Many of these spices can be picked up at an Indian Foods Market, where they are quite fresh, and much less costly than at your local grocery.

Ancho Ketchup

4 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1 stick cinnamon
¼ tsp celery seeds
¼ tsp chile flakes
¼ tsp whole allspice
2 lbs tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp ancho chili powder
½ cup white vinegar
5 tbsp brown sugar (organic if possible)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 anaheim chile, chopped
1 clove garlic (a rather large one if possible)

Create a sachet with the cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon, celery seeds, chile flakes and whole allspice by wrapping them into a nice bundle with cheesecloth and securing it with twine. In a 4 qt or larger saucepan, put the tomatoes, salt, ancho chili powder, vinegar, sugar, onion, anaheim, and garlic (smashed). Cook for approx. 45 minutes on medium-high.

Remove the spice bundle and puree the sauce in a blender until smooth. Strain through a mesh strainer back into the saucepan and continue to cook until the desired thickness, which will be about 30 or more minutes. Add more salt, sugar, vinegar, or ancho to suite your taste profile.

Chill in the refrigerator in a small jar. It will keep for 3 or 4 weeks. I keep my in the fridge door in a ketchup squeeze bottle so that I can grab it as I need it.

Enjoy this recipe. It is fun and easy to make, and your kiddos will be very impressed that you actually made ketchup.

Tomorrow, I’ll blog another recipe. It is bedtime for TOG (the old guy).

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

2009-07-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

Since it was a soup du jour morning, I had to get something out rather easily, as I had lots of other prep to do today. So after the obligatory walk through the Walk-In (refrigerator), I saw that we had quite a few tomatoes that needed to be used up. Hmmmm. Tomato soup is, without question, one of my favorites, and it is pretty easy to make. So Tomato Soup it is. However, I needed to add some pop to it. After more rummaging around the Walk-In, I found some fresh Basil. After quickly stumbling around the restaurant kitchen, making sure the steam wells had water in them, and the chicken stock (very large pot) was reducing some more, I got to work. This really is an easy soup. This recipe makes a lot, so either halve or quarter it, if need be.

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

Ingredients

16 tomatoes (medium size, heirlooms are best, but any will work)
2 medium size onions – large dice
3 large carrots – roughly chopped
6-8 strips of bacon – chopped
2 Tbsp veggie oil (I use 80% Canola/20% Olive)
3 or 4 qts chicken stock
1.5 cups heavy cream
¼ cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp dried Basil
1 Tbsp dried Oregano
1 Tbsp dried Thyme
¼ cup Fresh Basil – rough chop
1 Tbsp – Chipotle chili powder
1 Tbsp – Ancho chili powder
2 Tbsp – Ground Coriander
Kosher salt and white pepper to taste

And for the chef’s super secret recipe – ½ cup ketchup (I know, it just doesn’t sound right, but it works, so why argue the point).

OK. So it looks like a lot of ingredients. Yeah, well, the only necessary ingredients are the tomatoes, onions, fat/oil, and salt and pepper. With that base, you can add anything you want to make a tomato soup (chopped rosemary, for example). So if you don’t have something, don’t despair. Just play with your seasonings and add a few things until it tastes right.

Method

Roast the tomatoes on the grill until they become somewhat soft and have charred grill marks. Heat your soup pot on med-high. When the pot is hot enough, add the veggie oil and bacon and sauté a bit. Add the onion and carrots and continue to sauté for a few minutes. Now add your dried herbs (Basil, Oregano, and Thyme). You can stir these around the pot get them to release their aromas and flavors. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat a bit and reduce the liquid by almost half. Now at this point, you want to puree the entire mix with the fresh Basil. If you have an immersion blender, you can use that, or you can transfer to a blender by a bit at a time until you have pureed all of it. Once this has been done, add the lemon juice and cream. If using the immersion blender, continue to mix. If you went the blender route, get a whisk and whisk in the cream and lemon juice. Continue to keep the burner on medium through this process. Add the chipotle and ancho chili powders, the ground coriander, and the salt and pepper until the flavors are where you want them.

This is truly a soup where you essentially add the vegetables, cook them down a bit, add the rest of the ingredients and blend them all up. Feel free to play with this recipe and adjust the tastes to your liking. Personally, I’d add more chipotle at home, as I like the added heat. But at the restaurant, I have to be careful that I don’t burn the mouth of some little old lady from Sun City. I think a jalapeno or a Serrano pepper would also be nice added to this as well.

Restaurant Chef Tip: To get the white swirly stuff on top of the soup like in the picture, I reduce about 1 cup of sour cream with ¼ cup of dry sherry to a creamy consistency. Transfer to a squeeze tube (like a ketchup or mustard tube you see at hamburger joints), and slowly squeeze it out while moving your hand in a circle above the soup bowl. To add one more fancy, smancy look to it, you can drag a small paring knife blade in straight lines across the bowl. It makes it look like you know what you are doing.

Have fun and enjoy. Let me know how this works for you.

If you want an immersion blender, they are pretty cost effective. Costco has a Cuisinart immersion blender fro $30.00 that is stainless steel and can be used in a hot soup pot. You can find them at Target, Walmart, and most department stores. They are invaluable in the kitchen and I used them to puree all of my bisque’s and chowders.

Bon Appetit!

Pico de Gallo

2009-07-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Pico de Gallo

Hola’ everyone. I wanted to add a quick recipe that is just perfect for the summer. Pico de Gallo is something most everyone likes, and with the availability of fresh vegetables at the farmer’s market, it is a great way to create a condiment that can go with most every food you put on your plate. The nice thing about this pico recipe is that I use it as a base for most all of my pico’s. Depending on what I’m going to prepare for the meal, I’ll make additions to it that support the meal. For example, and I’ll share how I do it, when I’m cooking fish from the gulf, I like to make a tropical pico. And while it is somewhat of a Mexican or Southwestern style condiment, it can easily be fused into other cuisines as well. Much of my Louisiana style foods get garnished with a nice pico, especially my blackened or sautéed fish. And for the health conscious, there are few things more healthy than a fresh batch of pico de gallo. It is just loaded with vitamin C. I tend to make a large batch of it and keep it handy in the fridge to add to most any meal I’m preparing, breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper. It also works as an appetizer, or an accoutrement to the appetizer, such as seared sesame tuna on a crustini topped with pico. This is a very versatile creation.

Base Pico de Gallo

Ingredients

4 medium tomatoes – fine dice
1 medium onion – fine dice
3 good size cloves garlic – minced
3 jalapeños – very fine dice (add more or remove based on your taste profile)
zest and juice of two limes – very important part of recipe
juice of one lemon

Method

Dice it all up, mix it all up, and enjoy!

OK. What can we do to mix this up a bit? This can be left up to your wildest dreams (careful there, jalapeños can burn). I’ll add a few additional ingredients below.

For a Southwestern/Native American touch add:

The kernels from two ears of fresh corn – boil and cool before removing kernels.
1 Roasted Red Bell - fine dice
Add 1 or 2 hatch chilis and remove the same amount of jalapeños.

I love this over the top of a seared or grilled pork chop (at least 1” thick) that has been seasoned with kosher salt, pepper, Ancho chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder. Serve with a vegetable tamale and you have yourself a very tasty combination.

For a more tropical bent, add:

2 or 3 blood oranges (supreme, or cut it to where you remove only the meat of the orange, not any peel or pith)
1 ½ cup of finely diced pineapple

This works over a sautéed flounder seasoned with kosher or sea salt, white pepper, and a little bit of Ancho chili powder. Serve over a bed of rice with a green vegetable, and again, you have some pretty good eats (not to mention very healthy).

So I think you should be getting the picture. Feel free to experiment with lots of different additions to the base. You will find what goes well together and what does not. What I suggest, if you are not sure about the mix of your ingredients, pull a little of the base aside, and add just a bit of whatever new ingredients you want to, and see if it works. If it does, then add the proper percentage to the remaining ingredients.

Have fun and let me know how some different things you do with it.

Bon Appetit!

Kitchen Confidential and Sauteed Flounder

2009-07-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

I just finished "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain. What an entertaining book. Many of the stories definitely ring true for the industry, though some are exaggerated just a bit. There is a lot of truth to the quote, “Don’t eat the fish special on Monday,” though the place I work at does get deliveries over the weekend, so I can offer a fresh fish filet on that day. Without question, this book gives a no holds barred look at the industry, leaving pretty much nothing out. Those that work in professional kitchens are, for the most part, a different breed. However, with most chefs and cooks, it IS all about the food.

If you want an entertaining and quick read, go get “Kitchen Confidential” by Anthony Bourdain. If you are as warped as I sometimes am, you will get a laugh.

On to the food.

Teri and I are very lucky to live next door to a friend that fishes often down in Port Aransas. Really it’s almost like having a seafood market next door. This weekend we were lucky enough to get some fresh flounder filets, and I figured I’d share one of the ways I’ve cooked them. You can use this recipe with most any white fish, such as freshwater bass or even trout. It is, without question, pretty simple.

Sauteed Flounder with Sundried Tomato Buerre Blanc on a bed of squash and onion stir fry.

Flounder:
Ingredients:

4 flounder filets about 5 oz each (or any white fish)
Kosher or Sea Salt
White Pepper
Ancho Chili Powder (or regular chili powder if you can’t get the ancho)
1 oz butter
1 oz vegetable oil (I use an olive/canola oil blend)

Method:

Season both sides of the fish with the salt, pepper and chili powder. Heat skillet on med-high until pretty hot. Add oil and butter to hot skillet. Carefully lay the fish down in the skillet and cook for about 3 or 4 minutes. Flip and cook until done. Set over the bed of squash and onions and top with the buerre blanc.

Squash and Onion Stir Fry:
Indredients:

2 good size squash julienned (long thin strips)
1 onion Frenched (thin wedges)
Kosher or Sea Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 oz vegetable oil (olive/canola oil blend)

Method:

Heat skillet to med-high until pretty hot. Add oil to hot skillet. Add onions and sweat them for a bit. Add the squash and cook them with the onions for a few minutes. Salt and pepper to taste, and you are done. (I sometimes add a bit of dried oregano at the same time I add the onions. This is a cook’s choice.)

Sundried Tomato Buerre Blanc:
Indredients:

¼ cup of white wine
2 oz of shallots chopped fine dice (or mild onion if you can’t get any shallots)
4 oz of sun dried tomatoes chopped medium dice
4 oz butter (not margarine, not oleo, not anything else other than REAL butter.)
Kosher or Sea Salt to taste
White Pepper to taste (or black pepper if you don’t have white)

Method:

Add the wine, shallots and sun dried tomatoes to a skillet and turn it to med high. Boil the wine down to au sec, or almost dry (should be just bubbling and almost down to nothing). Add the butter 1 oz at a time, moving the pan around until the butter is incorporated. Add a small bit of salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the fish, making sure to get some shallots and sun dried tomatoes on each filet.

This really is an easy recipe to do. The sauce may be the most difficult of everything to do, but once you do it you will see that there is not much too it. All three of these items take about the same time to cook, so you can start them all in three different skillets on your range top and they should be ready to plate at about the same time.

I took a picture of the finished dish with my iPhone, so the quality is not all that great, but it will give you an idea of the plating.

Let me know what you think and please send me your comments and questions.

Bon Appetit and Enjoy!

Southwest Corn and Onion Soup

2009-07-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

Two things that usually don't go together are soups and the season of summer. However, some people like soups any time of the year, so the trick is to create a soup that goes with the season, and yet isn't necessarily a cold soup. While cold soups are nice and refreshing, they aren't always satisfying and don't always fill you up. During the summer, we are lucky enough to either be harvesting our own food from our own gardens, or have wonderfully fresh vegetables available at local farmer's markets. You should take advantage of these freshly obtained vegetables. Not only are they much healthier because the didn't travel for thousands of miles, but they will taste phenomenally better. Teri and I like soups, though I don't take the time to make them at home very often. While at the restaurant today, I needed a quick soup du jour, and really didn't want to build another bisque, something that while filling just doesn't fall into the summer soup classification. So after a quick run through the walk-in (walk-in refrigerator), I came out with a bunch of corn, celery, and other veggies that I knew would go together. What I ended up with was a really tasty soup that fit the bill for what was a mild summer day (mild by Texas standards anyway).

Ingredients:

6 ears fresh corn – remove the husk and slice off the kernels
5 stalks of celery – cut on the bias (cut at an angle)
1 large onion – cut Frenched (cut in ½ and sliced into small, thin wedges)
½ cup sun dried tomatoes – sliced julienne
½ cup roasted red bell peppers – small dice
(either canned or fresh roasted, if fresh roasted, seed and skin)
4 cloves garlic – minced
¼ cup dry sherry (not really necessary, but I like to deglaze the pot before adding stock).
¼ cup fresh lime juice
3 or 4 Tbl Canola/Olive Oil (blended at 80/20)
2 qt Chicken Stock (preferably homemade, but good store bought stock works as well)
2 or more qt water (use filtered or bottled, or good ranch water)

Seasonings:

Kosher Salt – to taste
Fresh Ground Black Pepper – to taste
4 Tbl Ancho Chili Powder
2 Tbl Ground Coriander
2 or 3 sprigs Fresh Thyme
3 Tbl Fresh or 1 Tbl dried Oregano

Method:

This is a really easy soup to make, though the ingredients might be a bit intimidating. Heat a large soup pot (6 qt or so) on medium heat. Add the oil, toss in the onion and celery and sweat for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the corn and continue to cook for a couple of minutes. Stir things around a bit and make sure the hear releases all of the wonderful flavors. Now add the sun dried tomatoes, the roasted red bells, and the garlic. Toss all this around a bit and continue to cook. Try not to caramelize things too much, but a little won't hurt. Stir in the Ancho chili powder and the oregano (if dried), deglaze with the sherry if you want, then add the chicken stock, the lime juice, and the water. Bring to a boil and let simmer at a medium heat for about 20 or 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't reduce to much. If it does, add a bit more water. When you think the soup is at the right consistency (and this is definitely the cook's call) you can add the rest of the seasonings, and salt and pepper to taste. This soup should not be watery or brothy, nor should it be really thick either (unless that is how you want it). Just a nice soupy consistency. I served it with a garnish of micro-cilantro (baby cilantro will work as well) and some fried corn tortilla strips (sliced very thin).

Please leave a comment with any questions, or to let me know how you like the soup and recipe. I hope you enjoy.

Beautiful, Bountiful, Bodacious Bread

2009-06-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

Without question, one of my most favorite things to make, and eat, is bread. I get to make many types bread, 2 or 3 times per week, at the restaurant, including, but not limited to sour dough breads, white breads, wheat breads, quick breads, and sweet breads (not to be confused with the sweetbreads from the inside of a bovine, which I also like to cook and eat, but I digress). Man has been preparing breads for many thousands of years, and the baker trade is one of the oldest crafts in the world. Many places in the Bible talk of bread, both leavened and unleavened. There were arguments during the Greek and Roman times on whether white or brown bread was the best, an argument that apparently still goes on today. However, during the Roman times, only the rich ate the white bread, because sifting and collecting the ground white flour apparently took quite a bit of labor and resulted in small amounts. Loaves and rolls have even been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, some over 5000 years old. Probably not very tasty anymore, but impressive none-the-less. Needless to say, making bread is a very old trade. It is generally thought by archeological scholars that yeasts for leavening bread and brewing beer were discovered about the same time, and very likely by accident. Regardless of when or how, it is definitely to our benefit that both have been improved upon over time. I like bread and I like beer. Beer we will save for another blog (or two). Bread we will discuss now.

As I discussed above, bread baking dates back to ancient times, and not just the times of our grandparents (insert tasteless joke here). Over many centuries, bakers have learned to manipulate the basic ingredients of flour, water, salt and leavening to produce a vast variety of breads. Lucky for us as consumers, a renewed interest in the traditional craft of baking has seen a new rise in many new bakeries in recent years. We, as customers, are demanding an exciting new assortment of breads, and bakeries and restaurants, including the one where I work, are providing these new concoctions. I, for one, enjoy going to restaurants to investigate what they are serving in their bread course. Many times I’m either unimpressed, or quite disappointed. But on occasion, there is an opportunity to experience some wonderful and novel approach to using yeast and flour. Pure happiness. In all truthfulness, I can make an entertaining evening out of a crusty loaf of bread, cheese, fruit, dried meat or sausage and a wonderful bottle of wine or artisan beer. Life just doesn’t get much better than that.

Yeast breads can be dividing into two major categories; lean dough and rich dough. Lean dough, such as those used for crusty French and Italian breads; contain little or no sugar and fat. Traditional sourdough and rye breads are lean dough that requires special handling to bring out their unique flavor. Rich dough, such as brioche and challah, contain significantly more sugar and fat than lean dough breads. Finally, laminated or rolled-in dough, so called because the fat or butter is rolled into the dough in layers, are a type of rich dough used for baked goods such as croissants and sweetened Danish pastries. The egg and cream bread that we will discuss, and prepare, below falls into the classification of rich dough, though it can be used as an every day bread. I will also include a very nice wheat bread, the same one I use for my kid’s sandwich bread. This is also a very healthy and flavorful bread that is easy to make.

The first bread, which is an egg and cream bread, is pretty easy to make. You will notice that I refer to using my trusty KitchenAid mixer when making this bread. While you can, and I have, made this bread kneading the dough by hand (and my wife thinks it’s pretty sexy to watch me do, not sure why, buy I don’t ask), in the essence of time and cleanliness, I recommend using a mixer with a dough hook. Life becomes so absurdly easy when using one and the cleanup is a breeze. I got the base recipe for this bread from one of my many cookbooks, and I’m not even sure I remember which one. However, I have experimented and adjusted this recipe so many times, that it is truly my recipe. The same is true with the whole wheat bread recipe. Some things you do so many times and have so many adjustments, that it is OK to call it yours.

Finally a note on measurements. I do all, read ALL, my baking by weight measurement. One cup of flour packed down in a measuring cup is not the same as a cup of freshly sifted flour. Because the sifted flour is full of air pockets, it will have less flour in the cup. This really does count in baking, which is a chemistry experiment every time you do it. You will also find that doing the same recipe, even using the same brand of ingredients, will give you a noticeably different bread depending on the altitude where you are baking, the humidity levels and the temperature at which the dough will rise. I periodically address these issues as we move along, which I’m quite sure you are ready for me to do. I also will specify whether to use high gluten or bread flour as opposed to all-purpose flour. Sometimes I’ll use both.

Egg and Cream Bread

- This should make about three good size loaves of bread if done in 4.5” x 9” x 2.5”loaf pans. Personally, I like to make either braided loaves, good size boules (large round rolls), artisan style round loaves or long loaves. This is strictly up to you, as it is fun to play with how the bread will look.

Recipe:

¾ oz yeast
1 lb. 5 oz high gluten or bread flour
½ oz salt (please do not use table salt, use kosher or sea salt)
2 oz sugar
1 oz butter (softened a bit)
2 fl. oz heavy cream
2 medium to large size eggs
10 fl. oz warm (110 degree) water (this may change a bit)

Method:

You will need a relatively warm, moist place to proof your dough. I turn on my over to its lowest setting (170 degrees). When it has preheated, I turn it off and leave the door open just a bit. Using my oven thermometer, I try to get it down to about 120 degrees, which I consider a good temp for proofing. I also heat an oven proof skillet on the burner to get it very, very hot. When I put the dough in the oven for its first proofing, I put the skillet on the lower rack, quickly add water and shut the oven door. This keeps a very moist and relatively constant temperature that the yeast will like.

I prepare the entire recipe in the mixing bowl. First I weigh or measure out all of my ingredients and have them ready to add (also called mise en place in the culinary world). I then proof the yeast by adding the sugar and yeast to the mixing bowl and about 8 fl. oz of the warm water. Stir it around for a bit, and let it bubble and foam. After about 5 or 10 minutes, when the yeast and sugar mixture is really foamy, add the flour and then the rest of the ingredients. Using your nifty dough hook that came with the mixer, begin kneading the dough on a slow speed until everything seems incorporated. Add a little more warm water as needed to get the dough into a ball. Sometimes you may add too much water. If this happens, and the dough does not ball up in a couple of minutes, add a bit of All-Purpose flour (by the tablespoon) until it balls up again. If the dough just doesn’t ball up and seems sticky, that is OK. It will still make a pretty good bread. You can speed the mixer up a number at this time. Let the mixer continue to churn and roll the dough for about 10 minutes or so. While this is happening, get a bowl for your dough to proof in. I prefer a large stainless steel bowl, but any heat resistant bowl will probably work. Add a small amount of olive or vegetable oil and use a paper towel to coat the side and bottom of the bowl. When the dough has mechanically kneaded for approximately 10 minutes, use a plastic dough scraper, or any kind of flexible scraper, to scrape the dough out of the mixing bowl into the proofing bowl. Cover with a clean dish towel, set it on the upper rack of the warmed oven (this rack should be on the middle level to give room for the bread to rise), put the hot skillet on the lower rack, and add about ¼ cup of water quickly to the hot skillet and shut the oven door. Clean up your equipment.

This first proofing should take anywhere from 45 minutes to just over an hour to double in size. After it has doubled in size, remove the bowl, punch down a bit and remove from the bowl to a floured work surface. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts, and roll them up into a log to put in a loaf pan, or a ball to put on a baking sheet. I recommend using a layer of parchment paper (NOT wax paper, they are not the same) on the baking sheet if making rolls or artisan loaves. Put the formed bread dough back into the oven on the upper rack to proof a bit more, this time for probably 15 or 20 minutes. After this time, you should see a noticeable growth in the dough. Take the dough out of the oven, leave the skillet (hopefully ovenproof) in the oven, and turn the oven on to 425 degrees to preheat. As it preheats, get an egg out of the fridge, beat it in a bowl until well homogenized, get a basting brush or paint brush (I use a silicon brush), and a sharp knife or razor blade. Using the knife, cut some distinguishing marks on the top of the bread. For example, I either do three angled parallel lines, about ¼” deep, or two lines crossed in the middle. This makes the loaf look very artisan and interesting. Afterward, brush the entire visible part of the loaf with the egg wash. This will aid in the browning of the bread. When the oven is at the proper temperature, put the bread on the upper rack, and toss a bit more water, ¼ cup or so, into the skillet, and quickly shut the oven door. Cook for about 25-30 minutes or until the top is GBD (Golden, Brown, and Delicious). When done, remove to a cooling rack and let cool for 20 minutes or so. Slice and enjoy.

As with the cheesecake recipe, I will need to get some pictures added to this blog posting the next time I do bread at home, and my wife can capture the sequence on film.

Whole Wheat Bread

This recipe is prepared the same as above, so I’ll give the recipe and let you all experiment.

Recipe

½ oz yeast
2 ¼ cups warm water
1/3 cup honey
1 tb kosher or sea salt
4 tb butter
1 lb whole wheat flour
1 lb 2 oz high gluten or bread flour

Method:

Proof yeast with honey and 1 ¼ cup water. After it is all foamy, add the remaining ingredients and prepare as above. I make loaves with this bread, and use it strictly for making sandwiches and grilled cheeses. It is a very tasty bread that is quite healthy as well. Enjoy!

I hope you have enjoyed the long dissertation on basic bread making. These bread recipes will help you quite a bit when entertaining guests. I have used the egg and cream recipe to make the most magnificent pull-apart rolls for Thanksgiving Dinner. Instead of using an egg wash, you can just brush them with melted butter right before you put them in the oven. Small braided loaves look pretty awesome as well. Just take one of the three sections you have after the initial dough proofing, break it into three more sections and roll into equal length ropes. Braid them and pinch the ends together and down. Egg wash, and bake as above. Looks impressive.

Please leave any questions or comments in the comment area on the blog. I’ll do my best to answer them in a reasonably and timely manner.

Cheesecake in Paradise

2009-06-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

Please forgive the lame attempt to adlib the refrain of a Jimmy Buffett song, but I just couldn't help myself. When I so cruelly teased everyone by sharing my daily tasks, I decided that I would create this blog so that I could pass along the recipes and methods for the many things I like to prepare. This blog, will not be limited to just food, but I will also share what I know, and what I learn, about beverages as well. Those that read my blogs will find that I like to cook. I really like to cook. I also like to make beer and cheese, and will attempt to make wine one of these days. To help grow my love for cooking, I also am a gentlemen farmer with a small (yet chaotic) organic farm (currently more of a weed farm than anything else, but that is another story), and I also am a hunter and fisherman. While I love most all foods, I prefer to have home grown or self harvested vegetables and meats. It is, without question, a healthier way to eat.

Enough about why, so let’s get into the what!

Cheesecake!

From the first time I put a bite of this silky, rich and creamy custard pie in my mouth, I was hooked. A good cheesecake melts in your mouth, with lingering sweetness rolling down the back of your tongue. The depth of how richly it coats your mouth allows you to hold the flavor for a long time, at least until you sip on that crispy, acidic Sauvignon Blanc you ordered to balance it out. Almost everyone loves a cheesecake. It is definitely one of those desserts that finish off a grand meal by filling up any and every spare open space in your tummy.

So how many different cheesecakes are there? More flavors than The Cheesecake Factory could even grasp. The possibilities are infinite. There are many different styles of cheesecakes as well, such as Italian, French, or New York Style. Almost every culture that uses cheese has some form of dessert that resembles what we Americans think of as cheesecake. However, because I am still an American, I will focus on our own famous New York Style Cheesecake. This cheesecake is an intensely rich and filling dessert, made almost exclusively from cream cheese, with a handful of eggs and flavorings thrown in. One thing you should make note of when finding your favorite cheesecake recipe. Find a good base recipe, then make adjustments when you wish to add new flavors. I’ll provide a good base recipe, the method for building and cooking it, and then how I will adjust it to create a phenomenal cheesecake that taste like a pina colada on a plate.

If you don’t have a KitchenAid or comparable type mixer, you might just want to buy yourself one for your Birthday or Christmas, or for some other occasion. It was, and still is, the most important piece of equipment in my home and restaurant kitchen. This is a big cheesecake recipe and will completely wear you out if you try to do it by hand with a whisk. I have the large, professional 6 quart size, but I have made worlds of desserts and breads with the smaller 4 ½ quart size, which is quite affordable.

Let’s get on to the base recipe. I have gone through many cheesecake bases over the years, but the one I purloined (as all good chefs do) from my current executive chef, James Ramsey at Silver and Stone in Georgetown (shameless plug for the restaurant), has become my mainstay recipe. I have changed it up somewhat to suit my style, but I like to give credit where credit is due. This base makes a very dense and luscious custard that will go along way at a party.

I use a 9” cake pan with 3” sides because I am of the opinion that all spring-form pans leak. No use in arguing the point with me, as I have argued it relentlessly with many chefs with years and years of experience. However, I will stick to my guns on this one because it is so much easier to use a pan that I know beyond any doubt will not leak. Enough of that rant.

For the cake pan you will need:

Melted butter
A basting or paint brush (preferably a silicon one)
Parchment paper (wax paper will NOT WORK!)

Method: paint the entire inside of the cake pan with the butter, cover the bottom with parchment paper, and put a strip of parchment paper along the sides all the way around and at least 1 or 2 inches above the rim for easy removal later. There is an easy technique for getting a reasonably circular cutout for the bottom. Cut a piece of parchment paper just bigger than the cake pan. Fold it like you are making a paper airplane, but keep folding it a few more times. Turn the cake pan over and place the point of the paper in the middle. Cut the paper at the edge by the cake pan, unfold, and you have a pretty good circle that will fit in the bottom.

The Crust:

2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup melted butter
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbs cinnamon

Method: Mix everything together really well. I use a silicon spatula and make sure the butter completely coats all of the crumbs. When you feel that you have stirred the butter, sugar and cinnamon into the crumbs well enough, pour about ¾ of the mixture into the bottom of the parchment lined cake pan. Get something round with straight sides. I have a coffee cup that works perfectly. Smooth the crumbs out with the spatula, and then pack down the crumb mixture with the round something, moving from the inside of the pan to the outside. You need not push down hard. The weight of the something (coffee cup in my case) should be sufficient to pack the crumbs down enough. When this is smooth and packed down, bake the crust in the parchment lined cake pan for 10 minutes at 300 degrees. Remove and cool completely before adding the cream cheese base.

The Filling:

3 lbs of cream cheese (6 of those cute, little 8 oz. blocks at the store)
2 2/3 cups of sugar
5 whole eggs
2 tbs vanilla bean paste

* I like to use real vanilla beans, but if you are not sure how to remove the seeds, don’t waste the bean. You can also use straight vanilla extract at the same amount.

Method:

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Soften the cream cheese for a couple of hours. Cut it up and put it in the mixer. If by chance you have a food processor (Cuisinart, Robo Coupe, etc) that can handle 3 lbs. of cream cheese, then by all means use it. Chances are you do not, as that is industrial size and hard to get for the home cook and a bit expensive. Add the sugar and beat until creamy and smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly. You cannot over mix this cream cheese mixture, so don’t worry. Keep it going until the mixture is very creamy and smooth. Pour into the crust and lightly bounce it a couple of times to get the bubbles to the top. Poke them with a toothpick to get rid of them.

Now for the fun part. You will put the cheesecake in a Bain Marie, or a water bath. I recommend a pan that has a 2” side that will hold the entire cake pan with a little room to spare. Lay a small cotton towel down first. Put the cheesecake on top of that, then add boiling water about ½ way up the side of the cake pan. This will keep the temperature somewhat constant throughout the cooking time, which will be about 2 to 2 ½ hours. I check doneness by the jiggle test. Using a dry towel or hot pad, lightly tap on the side of the cake pan to see how much the cheesecake jiggles in the middle. Long, slow wavy jiggle, cake not done. Quick, firm jiggle, cake read to take out. I like to remove the cake from the Bain Marie, and leave the water bath in the oven to cool down. I hate, repeat, hate spilling almost boiling water on myself, so I just remove the cake and leave the water. Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 8 hours, or preferably overnight. You want the cake well chilled.

Removing the cheese cake from the cakepan:

This is, without question, the fun and easy part. First, remove the cake from the refrigerator, and do not be tempted to start digging in. Fill your kitchen sink with hot tap water about 2 or 3 inches deep. Hold the pan in the hot water and count slowly to 10 or so. Have two things immediately available; a platter or cardboard cut out to place the cake on, and a cake pan that is larger than the cheesecake’s diameter. You will want to place a piece of wax paper over the bottom of the larger cake pan. Use a small knife to cut around the outer edge of the cheesecake between the cake and the parchment paper on the edge. Slowly pull out the parchment paper. If you must taste the cake, eat the remnants left on the parchment paper. I do. Now place the wax paper and the bottom of the larger cake pan over the top of the cheesecake. Quickly invert all and set on the counter. Slowly pull the cake pan off of the cheesecake, and replace with either the cardboard cutout, or the platter. Invert again, remove the larger cake pan, and slowly peel off the wax paper. You now have a very pretty cheesecake. If you like, you can use the remaining graham cracker crumb mixture to pat a coating on the sides of the cheesecake. Looks good, and tastes pretty good as well. Slice the cake however you like. I use a very long, thin slicing knife and cut completely across the cake until I have 10 or 12 pieces. You can cut a piece at a time also. We do this at the restaurant per order, and then jazz it up with many accoutrements, including fresh whipped cream (crème chantilly), strawberries, raspberries, or whatever else is available. I also like to make a silky Amaretto Chocolate Ganache to drizzle over the top as well. Be inventive and make something up. Almost anything will work with a New York Style Cheesecake.

But wait, Will. You said you were going to explain how to make the Mango, Pineapple Cheesecake!

Ah yes, and so I shall.

To make things interesting, you can add all sorts of flavorings to your base. I sometimes will pour ½ of my cheesecake base into the crust, add ganache to what is left in the mixer and beat it in, and then pour that in with the other already in the crust. Using a spatula I swirl it around a bit and cook as before. Tastes good, and presents well. What more could you want.

The Mango, Pineapple is what I want.

Oh yeah. OK, here goes. One thing you need to know about cooking with fresh pineapple is that it contains the enzyme bromelain, which is fantastice for breaking down tissue (makes a nice addition to a beef marinade). However, we do NOT want that in our cheesecake, so we must cook out the bromelain. Dice up a fresh pineapple to a small or medium dice, add 1 ½ cups to a small skillet or sauce pan, add ¼ of sugar, 1 fl. Oz. of a nice Rum, and cook over medium heat until the pineapple softens up, approximately 15 or 20 minutes. Let it cool completely. If you are going to use fresh mango, you can cook a cup of it, small dice, with an additional ¼ cup of sugar with the pineapple. I like to use a Mango puree and add approximately ¼ cup to the cheesecake cream cheese mix. This is completely up to you. When it is all said and done, you should add the cooked pineapple mix (1 ½ cups) and the mango puree ( ¼ cup) to the mix, and ½ cup of fresh grated coconut to the cream cheese mix. Mix it in really well, then bake as before.

This cheesecake really does taste like a pina colada on a plate. Garnish with heavy cream whipped with sugar and lime juice. 1 pint heavy cream, 2 or 3 Tbs granulated sugar, and 1 Tbs fresh lime juice should be the proper amounts. I also like to use the cooked pineapple, pureed and drizzled just over the cheesecake before I dollop a bit of the whipped cream. Add a fresh cut pineapple wedge as additional garnish.

While my directions may be a bit long and drawn out, it is really very simple. Alton Brown has a very good episode of Good Eats where he prepares a cheesecake. While his mix is very French, and very tasty, it is not very sturdy. However, he shows how to un-mold the cheesecake and gives good pointers on cooking. His cooking temps and times will NOT work with the above cheesecake method. Just thought I’d point that out.

This is a great cheesecake for a summer dinner party. Please give it a try and enjoy.

Leave me a comment, and let me know how it turned out. Also, don’t hesitate to email me any questions you may have.

Bon Appetit!

Chef Will