zuchotto

(daddy, mama, michael, nardo, kevvie, j, bill, sue, mary, frankie-baby, james, moi, joseph, jim & joe. mara & col were gone by then and old greg graciously took this one for us. and i have no idea where steven was. i kept asking and never got an answer.)

this past weekend, we had my favorite annual tradition: gaining four pounds in two days while the ice in our drinks melts way too fast in the sweltering northern virginia august. also known as the hughes cousins convention at uncles jim & frank's.

after a solid year of emails and obsessive, mouth-watering discussion, jim & i finally got to make our zuchotto. bill recorded it for posterity. because by the time it was unveiled, jim & i were SEVERAL margamaritas in. what? they're GOOD.

zuchotto is a dome-shaped confection compromised of layers of pound cake "bricks," whipped cream with roasted hazelnuts and whipped cream with chocolate chips, all generously doused with booze and set in the fridge for several hours.



so, basically, you line a bowl in cheesecloth, spray booze, then line it in bricks. which you spray with booze.


does my family turn it ON when there's a camera, or what? this was about 10am. if mama didn't do it, kevvie would have had to, but he was busy JUMPING OUT OF A PERFECTLY GOOD AIRPLANE at the time.



then a floor of whipped cream with whichever mix-in. you want to alternate. then bricks. then booze. repeat as necessary.



we used about five 8" pound cakes, 2 quarts of heavy cream and... um... some nuts & chips. and booze.


young james was SUPER helpful with disposing of leftover bricks. spread with nutella, natch.



did i say REAL whipped cream? cause: REAL. and unsweetened. trust me.







after a good spraying, wrap her in cheesecloth, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 7-24 hours.







perfect!


and HUGE. cutting through it wasn't doing my tendinitis any favors, let me tell you. so uncle jim took over and people started sharing cause-- whoa-- my uncle cuts a serious piece of cake.





(i mean, he DID jump out of a perfectly good airplane that morning!)

madeleines

last weekend my uncle jim gave me a madeleine pan. the week before, the miminator gave me a miniture madeleine pan. there's something about me that just insists that you give me the baking tools you don't use anymore. it's how i've become the proud owner of lots and lots of neat things, like antique lab & bunny cake molds, a few extra muffin tins and a checkerboard cake kit.

j is fond of madeleines. "fond" might be a staggering understatement. j left for a new job in another city this morning. yesterday, i made 8 dozen 3" madeleines and two dozen minis. i filled a 2.5 gallon bag with the full-sized cakelettes (the minis require more discipline than i generally exercise) and this morning he drove away with it half full. fond. in order to make so damn many, i had to quadruple the recipe-- i think i need to buy another madeleine pan.

ingredients:

• 2 cups unsalted butter, melted
• 4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 12 eggs
• 2 2/3 cups sugar
• 4 tsp vanilla

prep:

• melt the butter
• preheat to 375*

actual cooking:

• combine flour, baking powder & salt
• beat eggs & sugar at medium-high until tripled in volume (eh, 6-7 minutes)
• sift a 1/2 cup or so of the flour mix over the eggs and fold it in
• gently, slowly fold in the rest of the flour mix
• add about 1/4 cup of the egg/flour mix to the cooled melted butter & whisk
• gently fold the butter mixture into the rest of the batter
• chill for an hour
• grease your mold (i used baking spray)

• drop rounded tablespoons of batter into the mold (i piped mine in, as i do with anything that doesn't all go in one pan)
  

• bake for 11-12 minutes
• drop pan from a couple inches onto your counter to loosen madeleines
• cool un-scalloped side down on a rack
• present the little darlings elegantly on a tray or impressively in a giant zippy bag
  

best of luck, j.

(and thanks for taking care of him, uncles jim & frank!)

(and for the madeleine pan! i hope there were some left after he was alone in a car with them for 5 hours.)

bolognese

naturally, i had none of the better shapes on hand to eat this with, so i settled for whole sheat spaghetti. still nom.

this is one of the three things i've been able to cook since FOREVER (the other two are shortbread and mac & cheese) and, frankly, it's some of the best food there is. not to toot my own horn.

ingredients:

• olive oil
• chopped garlic
• mire poix
• (mushrooms)
• one package of "meatloaf meat" -- a combination of beef, pork and veal-- or just beef, or beef and pork, but i think the veal really adds something.
• 2 cans (32 ounces each?) of crushed tomatoes
• salt & pepper
• basil, oregano, etc. to taste (don't overdo it)
• (heavy cream/half & half, etc.)

prep:

• you may need to chop your own mire poix if tj's was ALL OUT
• (and your mushrooms, which aren't part of mire poix, but work nicely)
• and your garlic if you don't get it out of a jar

actual cooking:

• cover the bottom of a large pot over medium/high heat with olive oil
• add garlic, cook about 1 minute
• add mire poix (& mushrooms), cook until softened slightly
• add meat and cook until nothing's pink, stirring constantly
• (pour off fat if there's lots)
• add crushed tomatoes, herbs & salt & pepper
• allow to simmer for a good long time-- an hour or so, at least you can't really overcook it unless you're trying very hard
• add a splash of cream just before serving

obviously, this is most often served over pasta, go for something that will grip the chunks like corkscrews or shells.

fruit-filled shortbread

this is a variation on one of my new favorite recipes: chocolate-raspberry filled shortbread.

short bread-- along with macaroni & cheese and bolognese sauce-- was one of the first things i learned to cook by myself. it also happens for be favored by a lot of people i know: daddy, j, aunt diane and mrs. bender, my high school latin teacher (salvete, maestra!) (that's probably wrong, i got a c in latin), probably because it's awesome and delicious and crumbly and perfect. probably. j also favors blueberries, and he's coming over for salmon and leffe blonde tonight, so i made these blueberry.

ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 3/8 cup confectioners' sugar
• 3/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• about 1/3 cup jam (blueberry, here, or seedless raspberry)
• (2-4 ounces of finely chopped white or semi-sweet chocolate)

prep:

• allow butter to soften very slightly
• reserve 1 tbs of butter for greasing the pan-- and because this recipe actually needs 7/8 cups butter
• preheat oven to 300*

actual cooking:

• beat butter on low about 1 minute
• add sugar
• add vanilla & salt
• add flour and beat until just combined
• line a tart pan with plastic wrap
• divide dough in 2 equalish parts

• pat half into the lined tart pan and chill in the freezer until it (and its plastic) can be removed in one piece-- leave the dough in the freezer until called for, but take out the pan because you need it now

• grease the tart pan with remaining tbs (or less) of butter
• pat the other half of the dough into the pan
  

• add your filling
  

• spread it to about 1/2 and inch from the edge

• remove other dough from the freezer, carefully removing the plastic and laying it fingerprints down on top of the filling

• allow dough to soften for 5-10 minutes until you can press the edges together without damaging the dough (i got distracted when my volunteer gig called to see if i could work 12-2 tonight)
• bake for 45-55 minutes until golden
• allow to cool most of the way
• slice with a thin, sharp knife

kitchen klutz

"next aloe plant we see, we're buying!"





i have to admit, he's got a point. one might think a compulsive drive to buy potholders would prevent burns like the heart-shaped one at the base of my thumb (above, ironically displayed on my "le cordon bleu" oven mitt), the long-scarred 1 1/2 inch on the back of my left hand, the 1/2 inch puckered line on my right wrist, the currently sloughing (ew, only a little bit) result of attempting to remove hot shortbread from a tart pan on the inside of my right wrist, and so many fingertips and knuckles along the way.

i'm careless. and a danger to myself.

i'v had cuts, too, of course. little nicks from overzealous chopping and long, paper cut-like ones from a razor-sharp utility knife that i could swear didn't even touch my flesh. more often than not, i slam a drawer on my hand trying to clean as i go.

but the best-- the best EVER-- was the time i injured my rotator cuff mashing potatoes on a stove top that just a little too high for me in stocking feet. i shit you not, i was in agony for a week.

braised mediterranean chicken with tomatoes, zucchini & polenta

happy blogiversary!



with this dinner i accomplished some long-ignored goals:

• i made a dish found in one of the three cooking magazines i subscribe to (everyday food)
• i used beer in food (bud american ale-- which isn't TOO too bad)
• i cooked something from scratch that i normally buy (polenta)
• i used a recipe that involved careful timing & "meanwhile"-ing
• i actually used some of the fresh herbs i grew from seeds (oregano)
• i got this gorgeous creature to come over for dinner, after a mere 17 months absence:

ingredients:

• 1 tbs olive oil
• package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (5 from TJ's)
• sea salt & fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp crushed garlic (or 2 cloves, chopped)
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved width-wise
• 1 tbs fresh oregano, chopped
• 1/2 cup beer (or dry white wine)
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 3 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 4 1/2 cups water

prep:

• chop oregano (& garlic)
• cut veggie to size
• measure beer, broth, water & cornmeal (do it)
• season chicken with salt pepper

actual cooking:

• heat olive oil in a heavy pot
• put water on to boil in a saucepan with 1 1/2tsp salt & 1/4 tsp pepper
• cook chicken in olive oil about 6-8 minutes, until browned on all sides
• transfer chicken to a plate
• add garlic, tomatoes & oregano to olive oil
• cook about 30 seconds until fragrant
• add beer to tomatoes
• slowly, whisking all the while, add cornmeal to water
• reduce heat on polenta to medium-low; whisk often
• add chicken broth to tomatoes
• return chicken to the pot
• bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover & cook 15 minutes
• add zucchini
• season with salt & pepper
• cover and simmer 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through
• serve chicken and veggies over polenta

canadian bacon & carmelized onion fritatta

(how fantastic is the evening light in my kitchen? love.)

mimi bought me a cast-iron skillet so i don't have to flip my fritattas anymore-- now i can just shove them under the broiler for a couple minutes to finish cooking the top. there's so much you can do with a cast-iron skillet, it's amazing. cornbread is traditionally made in one and it's great for a cobbler or one-pot meal, too. it's a huge pain in the ass to clean, though. scour with coarse salt? no soap? ugh. fortunately, we're accustomed to washing dishes without soap since something, something, blah, blah, blah no soap in the beer glasses!

okaaaay. recipe.

ingredients:

• several slices of canadian bacon (or ham, whatever you keep around)
• 6-8 small red potatoes
• 1/2 an onion
• 4-5 eggs
• canola oil
• sea salt & ground pepper

prep:

• slice canadian bacon & onion into matchsticks
• slice potatoes
• beat eggs

actual cooking:

• put a generous splash of oil in the skillet
• add potatoes
• cover and allow to cook until slightly browned
• add onions
• allow to brown slightly
• add candian bacon
• salt & pepper to taste

• add eggs

• reduce heat, cover
• cook until set
• put under the broiler for 5 minutes (or so) to finish the top

serves two or three, can be doubled or more, but you might have to cook the potatoes in batches.

fritatta is the dish that turned bill to eggs. it was his idea to add the onions, here, and he was totally right. fritatta is making, um, a comback, i guess because it's so "recession-friendly." it's been in all the magazines lately being all hip and new. which it's totally not. but it's still good.

no-bake grasshopper pie

about a week or so ago i told the lovely heather that i would be blogging more of my massive failures for your entertainment. i went to college with heather as well as high school (sort of) with her fiance, will, so it's only right that THIS massive failure looks like something that got thrown up on st. patrick's day:


i over-beat the creamy mint pie filling. happy birthday, daddy!

in any case, i'll give you the recipe so you, too, can stupidly over-beat the filling (TWICE) and make globby mint butter (let's call it buerre de menthe-- it sounds more purposeful).

ingredients:

• 8 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 2 tbs confectioner sugar
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 envelope gelatin
• 1/2 cup creme de menthe syrup*
• (*1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar & 1 tsp mint extract boiled for 2 minutes and then cooled)
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 package mint milano cookies
• 2 tbs softened butter
• 1/3 cup almond meal (or some more crushed cookies)

prep:

• (make your creme de menthe syrup)
• sprinkle gelatin powder over 1/4 cup cold water and allow to sit for 2 minutes, then nuke for 15 seconds to dissolve gelatin, allow to cool
• soften mascarpone cheese in a bowl
• cut one inch off the end of each cookie
• crush the one inch pieces and combine with butter & almond meal

• pat crumbs into the bottom of a 9" pie plate
• line sides with remaining cookies, refrigerate until needed
  

actual cooking:

• beat mascarpone cheese slightly
• add creme de methe syrup & confectioners sugar
• beat until combined (it's not pretty)
• continue beating while you add heavy cream
• beat until soft peaks form
• continue beating while you add gelatin
• beat until medium-stiff peaks form
• (try not to make chunky mint butter)
• pour into prepared pie plate and chill at least 4 hours

so, my second attempt at this recipe didn't turn out that great, either, but since it's slightly less chunky than the barfy-looking one, i dumped it in the pie plate and hoped for the best.

thing i hate about this recipe are: i used both mint & chocolate-mint cookies and ended up with 2 mint next to eat other-- i wish my pie plate's circumference was about 1/2 an inch bigger; gelatin is GROSS, in so many ways; and i completely suck at whipping cream. which is why god made WHIPPED CREAM IN A CAN.

creamcicle cupcakes

over the weekend i read that (seriously.) "brownies are the new cupcake." determined to prove them wrong, i whipped up a quick batch of blitz cupcakes that bill swears tasted EXACTLY like a creamcicle.

ingredients:

• 1 cup butter (softened)
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tbs milk
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp orange extract
• 2 bricks light cream cheese
• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• (1 tsp "white-white")

prep:

• preheat oven to 375*

actual cooking:

• combine flour, salt, sugar & baking powder in a mixing bowl
• beat in 1/2 cup butter (VERY soft), milk & orange extract
• divide batter between 18 cupcakes
• bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
• beat together remaining butter & cream cheese until light
• slowly add confectioners sugar, vanilla & color if desired
• allow cupcakes to cool and then frost by filling a pastry bag with frosting and cutting the tip at about 1/2 inch wide, swirl frosting from the outside in
• garnish with orange zest if you're not running behind (i ALWAYS am)

i also baked my daddy's birthday present over the weekend: 6 kinds of shortbread. i'll post a basic recipe, the chocolate-raspberry filled recipe and the lime-rum recipe.

AND i've ordered some rose extract, orange blossom water and culinary lavender from jr mushrooms & specialties.

zucchini risotto

risotto is not as hard as everybody says it is. plus: it's totally yummy.

ingredients:

• 1 onion, coarsly chopped
• 3 tbs butter
• 3 small/medium zucchini (you can use one huge one, but smaller ones have better flavor), cubed
• 1 cup rice
• 4 cups chicken/veggie broth
• 2 cups water
• about 1/2 cup of scratch cheese (more or less to taste)
• sea salt & fresh ground pepper

prep:

• bring your water & broth to a boil (i generally heat it a cup at a time in the microwave because i like to keep the dishes to a minimum for bill)
• chop onion (i chop it coarsely, but i do everything coarsely because i am a delicate lady flower, but the recipe said finely.)
• reserve 1 tbs butter

actual cooking:

• heat 2 tbs butter in a large skillet
• saute onion until lightly browned
• add zucchini
• (salt & pepper it now for even flavoring)

• add rice and stir

• add one cup of boiling liquid
• reduce to simmer

• allow liquid to be absorbed
• repeat until all liquid is gone
• remove from heat
• add reserved butter
• add scratch cheese

we eat this for dinner about once a week. it takes longer than i like a weeknight dinner to take-- about forty-five minutes-- but is so totally worth it. i've served it as a side dish as well... but i'm pretty sure i skipped the main course in favor of it. oh! and this recipe makes a nice dinner for four or a huge dinner for two with leftovers.

lunch break: chicken salad salad

(or: why i'm willing to spend three and a half dollars on chicken in a can)

(or: we don't need no stinkin' grapes and walnuts)

(sorry, mom.)

in an effort to eat wonderful lunches that i totally love, like bill and his turkey & asiago sandwich, i'm trying new things which-- let's be honest-- has never been a strength of mine.

i actually DO love this lunch something serious and it's insanely easy.

ingredients:

• two or three stalks of celery, chopped fine
• 1 can of trader joe's canned chicken (packed in water)
• a blob of mayo (er 1/4 cup?)
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper
• a bag of spring mix

prep:

• drain & flake chicken (it's already pretty flaky, just jab at it with a fork some)
• chop celery

actual cooking (okay, "actual" is relative, here):

• combine celery, salt & pepper, chicken & mayo
• divide into 2 or 3 small containers (one cupish)

in the morning:

• toss some spring mix in an old take-out container (i like one from the olive garden-- a constant reminder that awful meals can come in nice containers) or something
• grab a contain of chicken salad

at lunchtime:

• dump chicken salad on spring mix
• do the happy chair dance at your desk

cookies 'n cream cake

it remains unclear exactly WHO gave my BABY brother permission to turn eighteen, but there is one thing we do know: there was no road test.

whilst enjoying kevin's chocolate cake with coffee frosting in june, i asked leonardo what his preference would be. "well," he said after some consideration, "i can't ask for this again, so... something cookies 'n cream."


the body of the cake is comprised of two textures-- unfortunately this part needs some tweaking, but i'll get to that-- soft white cake and brownie. the frosting was a white "cream filling" butter cream, colored with wilton "white-white" and flavored with clear vanilla artificial flavoring. a bit of granulated sugar gave it that slightly gritty texture. wilton cookies n' cream sprinkles added, ummm, more cookiness. originally, the second texture was going to be a chocolate cookie, but the logistics were fuzzy and an obligation to school and my waistline prevented me from experimenting beforehand. so i did something possibly incredibly stupid: i left one egg out of the brownie layers hoping for a crumbly, cookie-like layer. this may be what propted anna to ask, "is this... toffee?" um, crumbly? not so much. imbued with a facinating tar-like quality might be closer to the mark.

everybody liked it though, especially greg, who ate twice as much as everyone else in a fraction of the time. boy, if you ever need to feel good about something you baked, call greg.

so, moving on...

brownie layer ingredients:

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 3/4 cups butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 (or 3) eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour

cake layer ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter (softened to a mayonaise-like consistancy)
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup egg whites
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tbs milk
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla flavoring

frosting ingredients:

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tbs artificial (clear) vanilla
• liberal splash of "white-white" to preferred color
• about a tablespoon of milk

prep:

• warm everything up to room temp, or as specified
• grease 8" pans (or foil linings of said pans)
• preheat to 350*

actual cooking:

• nuke chocolate & brownie butter for 2 minutes
• stir until chocolate melts
• add sugar, eggs & vanilla
• add flour
• divide between pans
• bake for 25 minutes
• remove and cool
• preheat to 375*
• grease & flour pans
• combine dry cake ingredients
• add egg whites, vanilla, milk & butter
• beat until combined
• pour into two pans
• bake for 20 minutes
• remove and cool
• whip frosting butter until creamy
• SLOWLY add confectioner sugar
• add granulate sugar
• add vanilla flavoring & "white-white"
• add milk until desired consistancy is reached
• frost & decorate cake

happy



birthday

simba!