Rye Cooks

Cups vs. Grams

A friend brought my daughter and I delicious homemade almond cookies and she agreed to come on over and teach me how to bake them.  The recipe was written in grams instead of cups and spoons.  So intimidating!  I have tossed aside entire cookbooks that were written in this way because I didn't think I could do the math.  Silly me, there is no math!

It was wonderfully uncomplicated once I dusted off an old, but still working, food scale from Weight Watchers.  All the ingredients were measured in the same plastic bowl.  This was big for me because I make a tremendous mess in the kitchen whenever I cook and I never really got the hang of "clean as you go".  

Now that I think of it, I do have a couple of pet peeves when it comes to our standard measuring system.  Why is there no three quarter cup measure?  Why do some recipes call for 3 teaspoons of something:  that's one tablespoon, isn't it??  It is.  I know it is, but when it's written that way, I have doubts, and then I have to waste time googling some basic fact.

I am a convert, and now I have to look for cookbooks in the European section to be sure that I can measure happily in grams.

Chewy Sugar Cookie

I've been on a cookie binge and I realized I don't have a go-to sugar cookie recipe. Until now,  they have not been appealing because most are a bit dry and seem to call out for something (anything!) else for spirit: chocolate chips, lime zest, almond extract?

Other blogs sing the praises of Alton Brown's Chewy Sugar Cookies.  I tried the recipe, and yes, they are delicious.  The thing is, they make good on the title promise.  They are small cookies and still, they are crisp on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle.  

The dough is a mere one teaspoon placed on the cookie sheet.  It seems too puny to bake up properly, but it's magical.  

The best part is, at only one teaspoon each, the recipe makes 4 dozen!   You can bake half and save half in the freezer.  Winter is coming!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/chewy-sugar-cookies-recipe/index.html

 

Breakfast Ideas

I thought I struck gold, but hmmm....need more ideas.  Please let me know what your kids eat for breakfast!

The big idea here was homemade "hot pockets".  I am not actually sure what are in the ones at the store but here's my recipe.  

To be honest, they got a lukewarm response here, but I am pretty sure it was due to general depression on the first morning of school than any real dislike of the warm, savory bite of food placed in front of them.

Breakfast Bites

1 package Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheet (found in the frozen food section of grocery stores), thawed until easy to handle.

4 or 5 slices of hard salami (or thin sliced ham)

4 or 5 slices of cheese (your choice, I used Muenster)

1 egg beaten with a tablespoon of water

Heat oven to 400 degrees

Line baking sheet with parchment paper, aluminum foil will also work.

Unfold pastry onto baking sheet.  Brush with egg/water mixture.  Place single layer of salami onto the pastry, then a single layer of the cheese.  Roll it up, beginning with the short side and pinch the ends closed.  Use the egg mix to seal any cracks that appear and brush the whole roll with the egg mix.

Bake 15 minutes or until golden.  Let cool slightly and slice into rounds about one and a half inches thick.  Wrap individually in wax paper for easy freezing and popping into microwave for the morning rush.

Now, what works at your house?

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Homeowners have really gotten to know their basements this past week, preparing for Hurricane Irene and her aftermath.  Perhaps the silver lining is that we got rid of things that had little value but just found a comfy home between the water heater and the electrical panel.

We found batteries and flashlights, the manually powered radio from LLBean, the "pack n' play" that I am pretty sure our youngest (nine years old) won't be playing in anymore, loads of old cleats and ballet shoes, and lo and behold, the ice cream maker we recieved as an engagement present, many *short* years ago.

Well folks, ice cream and I have had a very close relationship for pretty much my entire life and I do believe all things are new again after making and sampling the homemade variety.  If you, too, have come across an ice cream maker in your basement, I implore you, give it a try this weekend.

There are many recipes online for ice cream, and I googled "cuisinart manual" to start with, since I didn't have it, but knew there were several good, basic recipes right in the manual. Here's what I ended up making, slightly revised from a great site: www.serving-ice-cream.com:

BUTTER PECAN ICE CREAM RECIPE

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup chopped pecans 

1 cup milk

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Mix in chopped pecan until they begin to brown.  Cool completely. Strain mixture, seperating pecans from butter.

In a seperate bowl, mix sugar and milk together until sugar dissoles (about 1-2 minutes).

Stir in cream and vanilla and cooled melted butter.

Pour mixture into ice cream maker.

Mix about 15-20 minutes.  Add cooled buttered pecans to ice cream and let churn another 5 minutes. 

**Next time I would consider adding a pinch of salt.  I didn't want to mess with the recipe too much,  but now I am confident it would be a good addition to try.

Grilled Peaches

Yesterday we shot grilled peaches in my backyard on the grill purchased and secretly carried up the deck stairs to surprise my husband on Father's Day.  It has been getting a workout, and if you look closely at the video, (on You-Tube!) you can already see juice stains running down the side of the grill.  How in the world do you remove that???

Well, this is way more about cooking than cleaning, so here we go. 

Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit.  Spray the grill grates with Pam, and heat up the grill. drizzle olive oil on the cut sides of the peaches and let them cook for about 10 minutes, until soft, but still able to pick them up with tongs.  Should have nice grill marks.  

Fill the peaches with a mixture of 1/4 cup honey, juice of half a lime, dash of cayenne and dash of salt.  Cover with slivered almonds.  Delish!  I probably don't need to tell you that a scoop of vanilla ice cream is a very lovely addition.

Fried Calamari

I just bought some pre-cleaned calamari tubes on a whim at the Stop and Shop, they looked so white and slippery, I had to have them.

I've been pretty much in love with deep frying ever since we deep fried pizza dough to make zeppoles.  You can see that in our next show, coming up soon. The thing is, there is almost nothing to it.  

Just fill a small, deep saucepan with oil, heat to 350 (using a candy thermometer) and drop in your ingredients.  So far, the ingredients are pizza dough, ripped out of the bag it comes in, and sliced calamari.

The calamari tubes are sliced into half inch pieces, rolled in some flour, salt, pepper, a dash of chili powder and placed into the oil with tongs. Cook one minute, pull out with tongs, and let drain on a paper towel.  Great just like this, or heat up some Prego for dipping and you're a hero!

 

 

Big Day

I drove my 16 year old daughter to the DMV today so she can get her learner's permit and I realized this may be the last task for which she absolutely needs me.  Sure, I'll be there to look at colleges with her, to buy a prom dress, maybe, or to set up her dorm room that first day, perhaps.

But there's no way she could have gotten to the DMV on her own.  

With driving comes all manner of responsibility and independence, and I am confident that she'll make smart choices, but I so clearly remember running alongside her, cheering her on, when we took the training wheels off her bike.  It was yesterday.  It was.

Chicken and Noodles in a Creamy Szechuan Dressing

I don't know how in the world mayonnaise ever got invited to join in the cool Asian crowd, but diversity is good right?  Well, it is really good as part of the recipe I used to make a side dish for a Fourth of July celebration we recently attended.

I wanted to use my cookbooks to come up with a dish using the leftover chicken we had from the previous bbq at our own house.  (Here in Rye, Fourth of July starts on July 1st with fireworks at Playland and basically continues until after dark on the 4th.)  Actually, does anyone know what in the world happened to the Playland fireworks on the 4th?  Did they use up all the good ones?  Was someone late for work?   We they just messing with us?

Anyway, I have a decent cookbook collection.  I know I could make interesting food for the rest of my life using them, yet the addiction to instant recipe searches have almost made me forget the pleasure of looking through the stained and sticky pages of much-loved cookbooks.

Here is a scaled down version of what is called "Chicken, Mein, and Vegetables in Creamy Szechuan Dressing".  I've simplified it so I didn't have to shop for extra ingredients I didn't have on hand and admittedly, I halved the bit about the mayo dressing.  As written, it called for 2 cups mayo and that's just excessive for one pound of pasta.  

1 pound capellini

3/4 cup soy sauce, divided

1/4 cup peanut oil

1 cup mayo 

1 1/2 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/8 cup sesame oil

dash Szechuan chili oil (or use any hot sauce)

2 whole chicken breasts, cooked, sliced thin

2 carrots, peeled, chopped into half rounds

1 sweet red pepper, sliced thin

Cook noodles until very al dente (the box of capellini says 2 mins!)  After one minute, throw in the carrots and red pepper so they will quick-cook.

Drain and toss in a large bowl with 1/2 cup soy sauce and the peanut oil.  Stir around to coat evenly.  Let cool.

Combine Mayo with mustard, sesame oil, the remaining 1/4 cup soy sauce and chili oil (hot sauce).  Add to noodles, and add in the chicken.  

Mix gently, using hands if necessary.  Cover and refrigerate until using.  It improves with time, but don't forget to take it our early enough to bring back down to room temp.

If presentation is a priority, toss some sesame seeds on top, and some green sprigs like parsley or cilantro.  Also, if it seems dry, just add some more extra soy/ sesame oil, or peanut oil before serving.

This dish was well received at the party so I encourage you to try.  Of course, it would be great with leftover pork, steak or tofu.

 

 

Pop on Over

This is the first day of summer, for this family here in Rye, NY.   Solstice was a couple of days ago, with that gorgeous moon, but this is the first morning without review sessions, final exams, musical performances, or class parties.

I am making popovers for breakfast to celebrate.  Well, my two teenagers are sound asleep, and will not wake up until long after the air deflates and the warmth is gone, but my youngest and her sleepover friend will happily enjoy with butter and probably some raspberry jam.

The recipe was photocopied out  an older cookbook, I am not sure the name, but on the very same page (596-597 fitting together on one standard size copy paper) are recipes for Milk Toast, Croutons, Yorkshire Pudding and Corn Bread, under the heading of Quick Breads.  No photos.

This is not sexy Giada cooking, but it is worth knowing.  Although I have never felt the need for milk toast, my husband is a happy man upon hearing the two words "Yorkshire Pudding", a food item about which I was always unclear, thinking forever that it was a thick dessert-y concoction.  Now that I know it is a bread-y item, cooked in pan dripping of roasted meat, I wonder how I missed this yummy (distinguished, of course, from healthy), side dish for so long.

Popovers:

"Forget what you've read elsewhere.  The secret to making good popovers is to start them in a cold oven"

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 Tablespoon melted butter

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Put all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly, without overbeating.  Half-fill buttered muffin tins (or custard cups...) Put them in a cold over and set the heat for 450 degrees.  Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 12-15 minutes.  Test one to be sure it is done by removing it from the pan.  It should be crisp outside and moist and tender inside.

Top Chefs of Westchester at Mt. Kisco Country Club

The United Way of Westchester and Putnam Counties hosted their third annual Top Chef evening this past Tuesday night and we were invited to take part in a culinary whirlwind.

Participating restaurants included 42 at the Ritz-Carlton, Benjamin Steakhouse, Crabtree's Kittle House, Bellizi, Cafe of Love, Le Chateau, Lexington Square Cafe, Mt. Kisco Seafood, Myong Gourmet, Captain Lawrence Brewing Company and Hilltop Wines & Spirits.

The raw bar offered by Mt. Kisco Seafood was festive and the perfect way to start the evening. We stocked up immediately and found a lovely table outside overlooking the golf course.

Happiness Is...conveniently located (for me) in Greenwich went all out with a menu of five tasting items. My favorite was the beef quesadilla triangles drizzled with sour cream and salsa. The bite sized desserts were amazing, the black-eyed-susan mini cupcakes were so pretty, and the brownies were simply, but deeply, delicious.

Lexington Square Cafe also made a splash with the Robiola with Mushroom Strudel and White Truffle oil.  I didn't know what "robiola" was, and just looked it up and although I am still not clear, it was a wonderful appetizer and we went back for seconds.

The proceeds went to United Way's Teach Me to Fish..Work Skills for Life initiative.  This initiave offers free training for unemployed people to become NYS licensed home health care aides, offers mentoring for towards teaching careers, and other job skills and job placement opportunities.

The evening was lighthearted and fun, perhaps easy to do when the food sparkles and the wine and beer flow.  It was exciting to be a part of it all.