Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Woooh! Christmas was good to me...


Christmas was very good this year. Not only did I spend an ENTIRE day with my mom (and the stand mixer of course) making delicious Christmas cookies, I also got a Bread Maker and an ice-cream maker for my KitchenAid. First to try was the Bread Maker, and I decided on Rye Bread (we have pastrami and swiss so it was a natural decision). Went to Pilgrim's (our neighborhood natural food store) for the Rye Flour, the caraway seeds, and the powdered milk (which was nice to buy in bulk as its fairly expensive). Then picked up the remaining ingredients, including a 5 lb. bag of King Arthur Bread Flour (yes I splurged a little), and since I was there I grabbed ingredients to make ice-cream (carb central at my house!). Got home and added everything to the bread maker pushed the button and voila! 3 hours 43 minutes till fresh bread. When the bread finally got to the baking portion the whole house started to smell sooooo good! There is nothing quite like the smell of fresh-baked bread. Well, I walked upstairs to check on the bread and noticed something was missing from the countertop. Walked into the living room, and saw the puppy had destroyed the ziploc bag of bread flour (yes the one I splurged on!!) so there was 5 lbs of flour EVERYWHERE (including all over the puppy) The other dog followed me up and next thing I know he was eating the flour too! So both dogs have flour plastered to their fur... kicked both dogs outside and cleaned up the mess. Meanwhile the bread had finished so I had set it to cool. Let the older dog back in the house (he's in a big barking phase!) and I went to take the vacuum back downstairs. I barely reached the bottom of the stairs when I remembered the bread. I ran up the stairs only to find the cooling rack was EMPTY. Yep the dog grabbed the entire loaf of bread and ran as fast as he could. Finally I was able to get the bread back, but it was ruined at this point. I don't think the dogs appreciate the fact that I didn't kill them that night! Since I was out of flour I decided to chuck the bread making idea and move on to the ice-cream. ('Cause really is there anything ice-cream can't fix?) The recipe I used called for a whole vanilla bean, but since I'm the kind of person who uses turmeric instead of saffron (it costs how much????) I substituted vanilla extract. I made a custard out of whipping cream, whole milk, vanilla, sugar, and 6 egg yolks. I could have just eaten it like that but I was good and put it in the fridge to chill for 3 hours. Finally the 3 hours were up, and it was time to make the ice-cream. Fitted the (chilled for 15 hours) bowl onto the mixer and set up the dasher and turned it on. Poured in the vanilla custard mix (and oops I forgot the mint extract) and let it mix for 20 mins. At first I didn't think it was working, but right around 18 mins in it started to look like ice-cream. The last minute of mixing I added in chocolate chips (next time I will use minis), and then it was done. Most of it I put in a container in the freezer to harden, but I did take a little for a taster. WOW! It was really good... Way better than that supermarket stuff! I can't wait to try and make some other ice-creams, and also sorbets and sherbets. Our house will be the place to be this summer!

Feeling better since the ice-cream came out so good, I vowed to make bread the next day (and let it cool WAY up high away from naughty dogs). This time I bought the cheaper (Gold Medal) bread flour and luckily I had enough of everything else so I didn't need to spend too much more. If it's possible, I think the house smelled even better with this loaf. Let it cool on top of the fridge, and then it was time to slice (with the dogs standing by drooling). I used the new electric knife Daren got for Xmas (yay for electric knives!) and cut it into sandwich size slices (it actually looked like store bought bread). I cut off a larger chunk of the bread butt* for a taster, placed a small piece of pastrami on it and YUM! Thankfully it was worth all the effort. The dogs also got small pieces to try and they loved them (although the dogs love most everything, so they aren't very good taste-testers). I made Daren a pastrami/Swiss/garlic mayo sandwich for lunch with the still slightly warm bread. Daren can be quite picky (and also brutally honest LOL) so he was a good (if ever so slightly biased) tester. Whew! Even he liked it! Next up for the bread maker is a 10-grain bread (a mix I bought pre-packaged at the store) and who knows what else... I see a lot of bread making in my future....

Till next time....

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Apple Butter!


Fall is officially here, and that means one thing (ok so maybe a few things, but for the sake of this post) ...APPLES! My mom and I made applesauce a few weeks ago, but then I started to hear everyone talk about apple butter. People were either eating it or making it, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon. I woke up this morning (ok so it was afternoon) and it was a nice fall day (and not too cold) and I decided today is the day I'm going to make apple butter. Off I drove to the nearest produce stand, but alas no good cooking apples! Decided to go to the natural grocery store (mainly for apples, but it didn't hurt that today was Sample Saturday) and picked up 4 lbs of granny smith apples. After a trip back home to pick up my citrus press and apple cider vinegar I was off to visit the parents (they have a better stove AND all the canning acroutrements). Quartered the apples (nope, no peeling or coring in this recipe!) and threw in a pot with water and vinegar. After cooking them for 20 mins they were super soft and ready to be food-milled. Added sugar and spices to the puree and back to the pot for an hour of cooking and stirring. As it was cooking I got my canning supplies ready, sterilized the jars/lids/bands, and sat (and stirred) and waited. Finally the butter was ready! Processed the cans and now I have to wait 12-24 hours until I can touch them again! Luckily the recipe made more than I could can, so my parents and I all have a little taster bowl. Currently the apple butter is waiting in my fridge, where it awaits toast and butter. After looking online there are millions other ways to use A.B. and I'm sure my bowl won't last very long! Until next time...

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Lemon Cookies


Since Amazing Race has started up again, it means that every Sunday I'm at the parents house for dinner and TV. Last Sunday, I decided to bake some cookies for the dessert portion. Grabbed my trusty Mixer Bible and found some delicious sounding Lemon Glazed Cookies (it's getting cold here in Idaho and nothing goes better with tea than lemon cookies!) Off I rode to Safeway to grab a few lemons (and a citrus press the greatest invention in the world!! why didn't I get one sooner?) Got the batter all mixed up and ready to go (no baking at home since the oven has been not holding its temp. lately) and then with the dogs in tow it was off to the parents. After some trial and error, I was able to get a (fairly) uniform amount of dough onto the parchment paper and into the oven. As they baked, I made the glaze (fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar). Once they were done and had cooled, I brushed on the glaze and then had to wait until the glaze hardened. Time for the taste test! I thought they would be a bit more like lemon coolers, but they were softer and a bit more dense. The glaze was delicious (it would have been a mediocre cookie without the glaze) and after my first batch, I made sure to put more glaze on the cookies. With the chill in the air, I have had many opportunities to eat these cookies while sipping on tea (lemon of course!) and almost a week later the cookies are still good. I will definitely make these cookies again. Until next time...

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Fun at the Fair


Good news and not so good news at the fair this year. Sadly the Snickerdoodles didn't make it to the fair. I'm not sure what went wrong, but he couldn't get them to bake properly. Very sad... I made Toasted Oatmeal Scones (didn't win anything on those), Marshmallows, and Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies. And wouldn't you know, but my Marshmallows won First Place!! I was very excited to see that blue ribbon. The Chocolate Cookies were for the Chocolate Extravanganza Contest, but they were no match for cakes and chocolate dipped cherries shaped like mice! Oh well, they were still delicious (and SUPER rich) and it was fun to enter the contest. All in all, I am quite happy with my win (it was the first time I have entered food in a fair before) and I'm already planning what I'm going to make for next year!! Next I'm going to experiment with marshmallows, adding flavored extracts and dipping them in chocolate. Somone mentioned cutting them into different shapes, so I will try that too. Lots of ideas floating around in my head... Until next time!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Venison Sausage


Last year when we were making sausage my friend had wanted me to make Venison Sausage. Unfortunately we moved back to California and I was never able to try it. This year I was determined to make some, and luckily my friend had some (50 lbs!) venison meat for me. Two nights ago we stuffed the first batch, but had a few problems with the casing bursting. Also I didn't have a very good meat to fat ratio and the sausage came out a bit dry. My parents were the guinea pigs and had poached the sausage, and while they liked the flavor, they noticed it was a bit dry. Today was the second batch, so off I went to Tim's (see last years sausage post) and they were all out of pork fat! I asked the butcher what else I could use, and he said if I was going to smoke the sausage it's better to use beef fat, as pork renders slower and you end up with all the fat at one end of the sausage. I bought 1 lb of beef fat to go with my 4 lbs of venison (I'm hoping an 80/20 mix will not be so dry). After grinding it and mixing it up, I made a little patty to try and it tasted pretty good. Next I got the stuffing horn all greased up and ready for the casing. Got the casing on without too much effort, and began to stuff. After what happened the last time, we decided to twist off each link as we made them, so if one blew it didn't ruin the entire batch. Luckily this time we only blew one casing. Got the sausage drying on a rack in the fridge, and tomorrow morning we are going to make one more batch. Then it will be time to smoke them (the last batch I smoked a couple of links, but left them on for too long, so they turned into jerky sausage LOL). I bought 2 chunks of walnut and 2 chunks of pecan to smoke with (walnut is supposed to be good with game, but you need a mild wood to go with it). Fingers crossed that I don't overcook this batch!!
Next for the KitchenAid are my BF's famous snickerdoodles, which he is making for the North Idaho Fair the end of August... Stay tuned!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Smoking (BBQ that is)

So today was the first official test of the new smoker. Luckily I read the directions and realized that the smoker had to be cured for 3 hours prior to cooking anything. So after a 3 hour cure and a 4 hour nap it was time to put the meat on. We decided on a tri-tip roast (ribs were just too expensive) that I put a dry-rub on last night. Put 4 pieces of hickory wood chunks in the bottom on the lava rocks, and then I put a mix of beer, apple cider vinegar, and a bit of water into the water bowl. Placed the meat on the grill, closed up the smoker and plugged it in! Lo and behold, 30 minutes in, I could start to smell the nice scent of hickory smoke! I set the timer for 70 minutes (the smoker book gives a range of 30-40 minutes per pound), which was a bit too short as I was trying to reach 140° (trying for medium as my Mom isn't a fan of medium-rare). Gave it about 15 more minutes and it was good to go. Let it rest for 20 minutes (well a bit longer as the BF didn't put the corn on in time) and then my Dad (wasn't that nice of him?) sliced it up. Then it was time for the moment of truth... The meat was very juicy, but I personally thought the meat itself wasn't the greatest... it had a bit too much fat running thru it, and I think I would have prefered a mellower wood (maybe apple?), but all in all it was pretty tasty. I think it was a successful first run, and now I can't wait to try smoking other meats. Next on the list is baby back ribs, followed by venison sausage (once I make some that is). Oh and everyone is going to want to come to Thanksgiving dinner 'cause I'm going to make a smoked turkey! So many things to smoke... Until next time...

Rare130ºFRemove at 120-125ºF
Medium Rare 140ºFRemove at 130-135ºF
Medium150ºFRemove at 140-145ºF
Medium Well 160ºFRemove at 150-155ºF
Well Done170ºFRemove at 160-165ºF

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Wonderful Birthday

So today was my birthday (we won't discuss my age LOL), and a very nice day it was. We (that would be my Dad, my BF, and I) floated down the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene river. The water was a bit cold, but manageable. It was a nice float up until I almost puked from spinning too much (this is why I have never been on the Teacup ride at Disneyland). After the float went out to a lovely steak dinner at (the always fabulous) Wolf Lodge, where I ate a Rib-Eye steak and was throughly embarassed by the group of singing waiters. Went back home to open presents, and I got a great cookbook with recipes designed for the KitchenAid Stand Mixer (whew... more things to discuss on this blog!). The dogs & cats (I have no idea where they get their money from) got me some new BBQ gear, and last but not least, my BF got me an electric smoker!! Wooh!! So now I can use my new cookbook to make some sausages, and then smoke 'em in the new smoker! Standby for more adventures in sausage making (the next batch will be Elk Sausages).... Until next time!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Lemon Meringue Pie


I was bored today, so I decided to make a Lemon Meringue Pie. My mother despises pie crust, so I decided to make a graham cracker crust. Going thru the pantry I realized I was missing a few ingredients, so after a quick bike ride to Safeway I was ready to go. I was nervous making the lemon filling, as it has eggs, and lately I have had trouble tempering the eggs and end up with scrambled... I nervously added a little bit of the hot mixture to the eggs, and lucky for me it worked!! Poured the filling on the crust, and then it was off to make the meringue. Meringue is super easy to make in the stand mixer, and I couldn't believe how fast it whipped up. (The whisk attachment has been my friend lately). The meringue came out a nice golden brown (I really wanted to stick a finger in and taste, but I was able to withstand the temptation). It looks good, now I (and the family) will have to perform a taste test (I know what a terrible task to be faced with... So until next time...

Monday, July 12, 2010

I'm Baaaaack


So after a long hiatus from any kind of real cooking, I am back! Just bought a house, and now that my KitchenAid has its rightful place in the kitchen, I have been cooking up a storm in it. A few weeks ago I attempted marshmallows (wow.... they are sooo good!) And now I have requests from family to make more (done, and possibly better than last time). Tonight I baked some white bread (also very tasty) and whipped up some mayo (yea! it didn't break like last time) I'm not sure if I'm digging the taste of the mayo, perhaps a bit too heavy on the lemon juice (what happens when you get a recipe of the 'net I suppose), but perhaps when it sits for a few hours in the icebox the flavors will meld? I don't have pictures of my finished products yet, but stand by for a few posts going into more detail!