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Location:Houston, Texas
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Wicked awesome salad
So the previous dinner was not all that but the starter salad was crazy good. Made some home made dressing that better than anything store bought and then made the salad with fresh greens, cherry tomatoes, manchego cheese and my favorite, bacon. Some cauliflower should up a little later as an impulse. I will definitely be making this again.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The Daring Kitchen -- Croissants
Blog-checking lines: The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!
"The Boy" did the croissants on his own and we served with a meal for his grandparents. They took alot of time to rise but the taste was very good. I would have liked them to be fluffier but over all a very good bread.
My part however was a disaster. Cornish hen with roasted vegetables was terrible. One of the worst things I ever cooked. I hope it was just a bad day for me.
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Location:Houston, Texas
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
The Daring Kitchen -- "Stock to Soup to Consommé"
Peta, of the blog Peta Eats, was our lovely hostess for the Daring Cook’s September 2011 challenge, “Stock to Soup to Consommé”. We were taught the meaning between the three dishes, how to make a crystal clear Consommé if we so chose to do so, and encouraged to share our own delicious soup recipes!
I was really proud of how this project came out but again I am posting late and hopefully I can start getting more cooking projects posted now that my travel schedule is lightening up.
I have been making stock for some time but I have to admit I learned some tricks from this project and the stock is getting better every time. I am planning on using bones from rotisserie chicken next time. Technically, I probably skipped the soup phase because I put my chicken and vegetables in the food processor and ground them up. When added to the stock it made soup but it was not pretty. However, the Consommé came out really nice. One thing I did was strain it through a paper towel which took out all the solids and any stray oil.
"The Boy" made a nice herb brioche which had a "whatever he could find in the pantry" filling. The pesto was okay but the brioche was outstanding and the posted recipe has made into our keeper file. So enjoy the pictures.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I was really proud of how this project came out but again I am posting late and hopefully I can start getting more cooking projects posted now that my travel schedule is lightening up.
I have been making stock for some time but I have to admit I learned some tricks from this project and the stock is getting better every time. I am planning on using bones from rotisserie chicken next time. Technically, I probably skipped the soup phase because I put my chicken and vegetables in the food processor and ground them up. When added to the stock it made soup but it was not pretty. However, the Consommé came out really nice. One thing I did was strain it through a paper towel which took out all the solids and any stray oil.
"The Boy" made a nice herb brioche which had a "whatever he could find in the pantry" filling. The pesto was okay but the brioche was outstanding and the posted recipe has made into our keeper file. So enjoy the pictures.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Houston, Texas
Friday, September 2, 2011
Daring Kitchen - Candy
The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!
As usual we are running late but we had just done truffles. They were fairly easy and very good. The nuts are crushed walnuts and the darker ones are shaved dark chocolate.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
As usual we are running late but we had just done truffles. They were fairly easy and very good. The nuts are crushed walnuts and the darker ones are shaved dark chocolate.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Daring Kitchen -- Appam and Curry (sort of)
Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.
The Boy and I are late on this one because I have been traveling for work all summer and am having a hard time keeping up. The Boy actually did the Appam and I made a spicy roasted green "hatch" chili, corn, red bell pepper and pork rib (leftovers) hash to go with it. The hash was basically just putting stuff together that we had around the kitchen but it turn out pretty good. It was spicy, nice to get some hot hatch chilis for a change.
I was a little dubious on the Appam and the first few were complete failures to cook, but after some adjustments to pan temperature and batter amounts, they started coming out okay. It took some time before I could really get into the flavor of the Appam but The Boy liked them right off. I found if I got them a little toasty, they tasted better to me.
Plating this time was not fantastic, but I was really impressed by The Boys presentation. We are starting to both plate and in the future you will see both plates. Feel free to comment on which one you think is better. I am not going so which is which, so if you do comment just indicate which color plate you like. So on with the plates.
The Boy and I are late on this one because I have been traveling for work all summer and am having a hard time keeping up. The Boy actually did the Appam and I made a spicy roasted green "hatch" chili, corn, red bell pepper and pork rib (leftovers) hash to go with it. The hash was basically just putting stuff together that we had around the kitchen but it turn out pretty good. It was spicy, nice to get some hot hatch chilis for a change.
I was a little dubious on the Appam and the first few were complete failures to cook, but after some adjustments to pan temperature and batter amounts, they started coming out okay. It took some time before I could really get into the flavor of the Appam but The Boy liked them right off. I found if I got them a little toasty, they tasted better to me.
Plating this time was not fantastic, but I was really impressed by The Boys presentation. We are starting to both plate and in the future you will see both plates. Feel free to comment on which one you think is better. I am not going so which is which, so if you do comment just indicate which color plate you like. So on with the plates.
Monday, August 1, 2011
First Monthly "Yet to be Named" Wine Club
After much discussion at work on how much some of us like wine, we decided to start having wine club. The first one was at our house so The Boy and I decided to make some snacks. Unfortunately, we did not get pictures of the mousse and seared ahi tuna but did get some of the homemade truffles, fresh sourdough bread and cheese and meat plate. Enjoy.
P.S. -- The wine was good too.
P.S. -- The wine was good too.
Daring Kitchen -- Fresh Fraisiers
Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.
The Boy and I parted from the published recipe and did something that I googled and thought might be relatively easy, boy was I wrong. The cake part was an interesting combination of sugar, eggs and flour. First you heat the eggs and sugar over a double boiler and than whip the heck out of it using our trusty stand mixer. Was looking for ribbons here and got to that point about eight minutes into whipping. Was kind of worried about the mixer, it is starting to make strange noises. The next part, I have decided is more of a skill. You must fold in the flour, gently, quickly and without deflating the egg whip. This was not easy and had to do it twice, which worked out okay since we used both in the cake.
The Boy made the cream which had its own challenges. We did not use gelatin but used cornstarch instead. It seized up faster than expected but we added some vanilla and all was right with the world. It tasted fine and piped really well.
Decorating was the easiest part and I was proud of the finished product. However, I am cutting out the carbs and The Boy doesn't like strawberries, so we gave it to the grandparents who seemed to like it.
The Boy and I parted from the published recipe and did something that I googled and thought might be relatively easy, boy was I wrong. The cake part was an interesting combination of sugar, eggs and flour. First you heat the eggs and sugar over a double boiler and than whip the heck out of it using our trusty stand mixer. Was looking for ribbons here and got to that point about eight minutes into whipping. Was kind of worried about the mixer, it is starting to make strange noises. The next part, I have decided is more of a skill. You must fold in the flour, gently, quickly and without deflating the egg whip. This was not easy and had to do it twice, which worked out okay since we used both in the cake.
The Boy made the cream which had its own challenges. We did not use gelatin but used cornstarch instead. It seized up faster than expected but we added some vanilla and all was right with the world. It tasted fine and piped really well.
Decorating was the easiest part and I was proud of the finished product. However, I am cutting out the carbs and The Boy doesn't like strawberries, so we gave it to the grandparents who seemed to like it.
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