Christmas Feast

Dear Bloggers,
      The prep for this meal started yesterday. I wanted to have a mixture of countries incorporated into this years feast. It really wasn't quite as extravagant as I had hoped, although my departure for Florida on Friday morning was the primary cause. I combined my boyfriend's Russian heritage, with my Italian heritage, and our favorite cuisine, Middle Eastern to create a multicultural meal.

      Breakfast was a treat for dear sweetheart, blini. These are very similar to crepes, however once they are stuffed, they are grilled to perfection. Simply start by combining 3 eggs, with 2 cups of milk, and 3/4 cup flour. Whisk until smooth. Add in 1/4 cup vegetable oil. If necessary add more flour, or water if mixture is too thick. Heat a shallow pan to medium high and pour the battery to completely cover the pan with a thin layer. Turn then pancake once its edges look dry. Butter each one. Then, choose a filling. I used the spinach artichoke dip I made and closed them up and grilled them for about 3-4 minutes each side. Serve them with caviar or sour cream if desired. These can also be made sweet with chocolate, any fresh fruit or simply whipped cream.

      I started the meal by preparing the two dips. A spinach artichoke dip that had garlic, dill, parsley, and Pecorino Romano, served cold. I also served a Turksih carrot salad that had greek yogurt, garlic, paprika, and cumin. Each were accompanied by freshly heated pita bread.

      Next was Belyash. Belyash is a small fried pastry filled with any combination of ingredients, however, traditionally, it is made with ground beef. To prepare these, I combined 1/2 tsp yeast, with 1/4 cup of heated water (between 105-115 degrees Fahrenheit), 1 tsp of sugar, and a dash of salt. Once foamy, I combined 1 cup of warm milk (same temperature), with 2 tablespoons of melted butter. I incorporated 3 cups of flour, no more, or the dough won't be as fluffy. I drizzled in some olive oil into the stand mixture to bring the mixture into a ball. I then covered it and put it in a warm place to raise until doubled in size, about 2 hours. I then formed the dough, by oiling my hands into gold sized balls, covered them with a tea towel and let them rise for another hour. The mixture is simply sautéed onions, with 1 green bell pepper. Pulse these in the food processor until they are a fine chop. Add them to a sautée pan and cooked until tender. Drain them over a strainer to release all the liquid. Then add the ground beef to the same pan and cook until lightly pink. It is important not to overcook this mixture. Add it to the onion and pepper mixture. Form small disks about 4-6 inches in shape, add a thin layer of beef and fold in an envelope style. Pan fry them in oil heated to 375 degrees for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until dark golden brown. They go best with sour cream.

       Moving forward was a Cooking With Frogs recipe, The Lindsay Roast with Apple Cider. It was stupendous. One that will be added to our menu as a specialty item. Although I couldn't afford to buy prime beef roast, I opted for the cheaper buy (shameful and sad, but my only option) a chuck eye round roast. Nonetheless, I dry rubbed it with 2 parts pepper to one part salt and let it sit overnight in the fridge. I then added it to my pyrex dish and chose cipollini onions and garlic as the complimentary vegetables. I cooked it at 300 for about 1 1/2 hours to an internal temperature of 150 degrees and it was superb. Absolutely perfect! Thank you Kay Lindsay, this recipe is outstanding.

   


 I also served some delicious struffoli. My Italian heritage took over me and decided, yes, it is Natale, and yes, I must serve struffoli. I followed yet again the recipe from Cooking With Frogs and out came these beauts.  Although they came out a little larger than intended, they still yielded that wonderful crunchy, soft, sweet texture I remember from the past Christmas' spent in Napoli. Four recipes down, 21 to go. Until next time readers, have a Merry Christmas, enjoy family, but most importantly, stay healthy and happy cooking!

A Bequest for the Future Bullfrog

Dear Bloggers,

       I have embarked on a journey to complete all of the recipes included in Bullfrog and Baum's "Cooking With Frogs" which can be found here. It is a collection of recipes from all of the talented, appreciative foodies that work at the firm. I decided to begin my journey with chili and stuffed button mushrooms. I am currently staying home with my mother in California with her newly adopted nephew which is why I had to choose the simplest recipe to cook with staying here. I was expecting a good two hours of cooking, but the food was easy to prepare and quick cooking. 

I started by feeding my hunger with some creamy guacamole served with the one and only, TJ pita chips. Smashed avocados, lime, fresh cilantro, red onion. There is really nothing quite as smooth and soothing. I truly adored the chili as it was as simplistic as a snap with a dash of chopping. A classic chili dish, so to spruce it up I added a splash of red wine, a pinch of cayenne, and a few teaspoons of fresh cilantro. I served it with some mild New Zealand cheddar cheese and fresh crumbled corn bread. I let it simmer for about an hour to get the flavors more deeply infused, although for someone who is in a rush, this is the perfect meal for a Wednesday night.

Moving on to the stuffed button mushrooms. I showed my mother the recipe and she was extremely hesitant about the anchovies. As was I, but while shopping in Trader Joe's, a woman talked with us about how they are a key ingredient and well, my mom was sold. After sautéing the onion, I added in stems with the anchovies and the parsley. The binding of the egg added a nice flavor to somewhat mute any overly earthy flavors that the mushrooms emitted. I am not a huge fan of mushrooms. Something about the texture sets me slightly off, but these, were so flavorful, I really was impressed. 

Overall, each of the two dishes were quick, simple and ultimately fulfilling. Thank you bullfrogs. Two dishes out of twenty-five. Twenty-three more to go. Cheers. Until I return to Virginia, stay healthy, and happy cooking!

Pepper Cheese Fried Wontons Please

Dear Bloggers,
     The weather is slowly cooling down and the evenings fly in so quickly. We had some lovely friends join us this weekend and I decided to try something new. I had always heard of jalapeño poppers, but I wanted to take my own spin on them. I decided to make Pepper Cheese Fried Wontons and they were so creamy and had such a nice warmth from the peppers. I started by combining cream cheese, diced red pepper, diced poblano peppers, fresh garlic, salt, and pepper into a bowl. I combined all of the ingredients until well combined. I picked up some wonton skins and stuffed them, just as I had in my previous blog, closed them with some egg wash then fried them. Those were vegetarian and I also used the same ingredients and added ground beef that I sautéed and added to the pepper cheese mixture. They both had very different tastes but were equally delicious. If you wanted to take the heat up you could use fresh jalapeño or serano peppers instead. I wanted to make sure that my friends could handle the heat so I chose the poblano. These wontons are pretty forgiving. You can substitute anything you'd like, such as spinach and cream cheese. Well, give them a try, and stay warm this Thanksgiving. Embrace your family and forget not to get caught up in the materialism of the seasons and enjoy what's most important. To me that's family and food. Until the next blog, stay healthy and happy cooking!

A Taste of Asia

Dear Bloggers,
      I never thought I would possess such a profound passion for Asian food, particularly Chinese. Yes, don't we all turn to a takeout box of greasy chicken lo mien on a lonely Friday night? I occasionally turn to Chinese food as it is near and dear to my heart. After going through a year of detesting Chinese, I came around to the dark side and returned my heart. I have always loved eating wanton soup with sliced green onion, spinach leaves, chili paste and some crispy fried wanton strips. The soup brings my heart to a euphoric phase of peace and pleasure. I decided to take a spin at making my own wantons and they were fairly easy. I began by combining 1 cup of ground turkey, with 2 tbsp of green onion, 2 tbsp of carrot, 2 tbsp of spinach, 2 tbsp of parsley, 5 garlic cloves, 1 tsp of fresh ginger, 1 tbsp soy sauce. I added all of the ingredients except the turkey to the food processor until well blended. The consistency should be a very fine chop. I combined all of the ingredients adding salt and pepper to taste and let it sit in the fridge for two hours before working with it. I picked up a package of wanton skins at the local Asian market and tried with both circular and square skins to come up with two different looks.

     When time for stuffing the wantons arrived, I beat 1 egg with 1 tsp of water in a bowl and placed 1 tsp of the filling or less, added a ring of egg wash around the filing then folded them. You can get creative with this step to achieve any desired look. The best idea is to fold the wanton in half then to pinch the bottom end of the stuffed portion and then twist the other two ends around to touch each other. After they are all prepared the simply need to be boiled or fried. I choose to make soup with them and generally they take 6-8 minutes to cook, or until they float for 2 minutes. Careful not to overcook them, or they become mushy. I like to top the soup with fresh spinach leaves, slightly cooked cabbage, fresh green onion, parsley, and chili paste. It is quite a delicious day time snack. Eat up kids and until next time, stay healthy and happy cooking!

Charcuterie At It's Finest

Dear Bloggers,

Happy Saturday evening! I'm hard at work writing a debate for my argumentation class in favor of expanding the DC public transit from its current 17 mile radius to a 40 mile radius. I can't help but want to write about my true love, salame and today I am here to do so. I thought that it would be wise to take the art of charcuterie or salumi as it is in Italian, into my own hands. I figured, why spend $30 on a 2 lb cut of coppa piccante from Colombus when I have the capabilities to make it myself. Thus, I researched several blogs and youtube videos, providing multiple insights to compare which products turned out best. I came to find my own way, in which I hope will turn out fine. I have yet to complete the product, but I wanted to start this blog to show you my journey through this process.
I began by first purchasing a cut of pork shoulder with the fat and skin attached. After cutting four inches from the bone, I mixed 1 part himalayan pink salt with 1 part kosher salt and began rubbing the meat generously, working it into every crevice of the tissue. I placed the shoulder on a cookie rack on a pan, covered it in plastic wrap and came back to it two days later. It lost a significant amount of moisture and most of the salt was gone, so I again mixed up the pink and kosher salt, liberally applied it, and turned the meat over. I repeated this process until day seven.

At day seven, I knew the meat was ready as it shrunk slightly and reached the firmness of pancetta. I rinsed the meat off in cold water, then created a bath of red wine to rinse the meat and let it absorb some of the flavors. I chose to use a Spanish wine I picked up at Trader Joe's, La Granja, a nice dry flat wine. I didn't want the meat to absorb too much flavor from the wine, so I thought it would be appropriate to use a subtle flavor.

Following the wine soaking that lasted about 10 minutes, turning it halfway through, I patted it dry with a paper towel. I mixed 1 tablespoon of paprika, 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of cumin together. I then dry rubbed the shoulder in the same fashion as I did with the salt, getting it into ever flip and flap. After, I grabbed my beef bung, yes, that's the end of the large intestine of a cow, and stuffed my pork shoulder carefully into the casing. I picked up some butchers twine and tied it however made sense and it looks like it came out pretty well. I proceeded to rinse off my beef bungy hands and hang the coppa in the corner of my fridge. 

After three weeks, this is how it is looking. It's sitting in my fridge where the temperature is approximately 45 degrees. It is supposed to be in a curing chamber where the temperature can be perfectly regulated at 55 degrees fahrenheit, but I had to settle on the good ol' fridge. I read through another blogger's experience with homemade coppa and he cured it in his bathroom at room temperature 70-75 degrees fahrenheit and from his results, it worked out just fine. I didn't want to take any unusual chances with my first coppa, so I played it safe and decided the fridge would be a good alternative. Now it's just a waiting game. Based off of what I read and from professional charcuterie websites, you must wait for the meet to decrease by 2/3 it's original size. This can take anywhere from three weeks to 6 months and it is also a matter of preference. Do you want a really hard texture or do you prefer a softer, meatier texture. With coppa, it is a medium between rock and bacon. Thus, I will get back to you, my bloggers. Thank you for keeping up with me and I'm sorry about the magnificent delay in entries, but consistency will improve because it's getting closer to the holidays and that can only mean one thing, indulgence. Until tomorrow, stay healthy and as usual, happy cooking! 

The Most Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dear Bloggers,
         It's been a little while since I have entered, well not too long, but I felt that it was necessary to post about this too good to be true chocolate chip cookie. From the outside it may just appear to be your classic chocolate chip cookie and I of all people love to experiment and create amazingly yummy new cookies with exotic ingredients. When it comes to the chocolate chip cookie, you have to keep it simple, clean, and straight to the point. These cookies are just the traditional chocolate chip cookie with brown sugar, cane sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, butter, egg, vanilla extract, and the secret ingredient, OREOS. Yes, you most definitely just read that word. Oreos. Girl raise your hands to the roof because you thought that you'd never find quite an splendid desert! Well, I have it for you. All you are going to do is proceed in making your chocolate chip cookies the size of golf balls, flatten them out, place an Oreo between it and another flattened cookie, then form the cookie dough to the Oreo. This, ladies is quite the desert to pamper you on your period. Pop them in the oven at 375 for 10-12 minutes and you will be the most satisfied cookie in the house. No pun intended. Now I know what you're thinking, that has more calories that I have consumed all week. Yes ma'am, you are correct, but just take it like a woman and enjoy that sucker. It is quite the tasty fella. Well, until next time continue to try and stay healthy (minus these cookies) and happy cooking!