Quick Pudding

This is a really excellent recipe for those days that you really need a treat and chocolate isn't going to do it (not that I'm dissing chocolate in any way, shape, or form). This has a nice, warm, cinnamon-y, raisin taste to it. The recipe makes a nice desert for 6 but on treat days it makes 4 nice-sized comfort portions. The best part is that you make both parts in the same mixing bowl, that takes all of 5 minutes (just long enough to preheat the oven in my kitchen) and then it's out of the oven in 30 minutes. The second best part is that all of the ingredients are pretty standard "pantry" ingredients so there's nothing at all stopping you from making it (Nancy, I'm going to try it with the brown sugar Splenda one of these nights. If you feel adventurous and get to it before me, post it in the comments, please.)

1 c flour
1/3 c brown sugar
2 T butter, softened
2 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
1/3 c raisins
1/2 c milk
1 3/4 c hot water
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
2/3 c brown sugar

Measure the first 6 ingredients into a bowl and stir. Add the milk and mix. Turn into a 2L casserole dish and smooth the top. In the same bowl, combine the last 4 ingredients and stir. Pour carefully over the top of the batter. DO NOT STIR!! Bake uncovered for 30 minutes @ 350F. They say to serve it hot but if you let it cool a bit, the sauce gets thicker and you don't suffer from second degree sugar burns on the roof of your mouth (sometimes my purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others).

I think I originally got this from a Company's Coming cookbook. It's actually a lot like the Hot Fudge Monday recipe that I posted before only, you know, without the fudge (have I mentioned that I love chocolate just as much as the next girl? If said girl had a thing for lemon meringue and raspberries maybe).

Pesto Fish

This is a pretty simple recipe that I found online.

* 1 lb.Cod
* 1/4 cup Mayonnaise
* 2 Tbsp Pesto
* Parmesan Cheese

Mix pesto and mayonnaise together and spread on top of fish. Sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese. Cook at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

I actually ended up with only 1/3 pound of cod, though I forgot to change the other portions, so I ended up with a lot of extra topping. However, by another accident, I ended up cooking the fish for the exact right amount of time, so that was good.

It came out really well, though next time I might just mix some pesto with bread crumbs for the topping.

Freaky Foolproof Pie Crust

I don't use the word "freaky" lightly, this is a seriously strange process that I picked up in an issue of Cook's Illustrated which is published by America's Test Kitchen. They're serious food geeks who guarantee their recipes because they break everything down to the actual physical and chemical laws that apply to food prep. FOR EXAMPLE... Foolproof Pie Crust (I'll cop to adding the Freaky to the title of the recipe). They took a look at what characteristics marked a perfect pie crust: light, flaky etc. and, through exhaustive trial and error (think thousands of pies in thousands of permutations of shortening, flour, water) they isolate and maximize them.

Sorry, I really don't mean to sound like I'm selling them, I just found the process fascinating because we all kind of do that when we cook, we make mental notes of things to try differently "the next time I make it": cook the roux a little longer, maybe add another egg, try it with ham instead of bacon. They just do it again immediately. It's just kind of obsessive and cool. I used to have a subscription to their magazine but it took forever by mail and most of the time it was in the stores before I had received my copy so I risked the occasional missed issue in exchange for buying them on demand.

Enough babbling. On to the weirdness.

2 1/2 c sifted flour
1 t salt
2 T sugar
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter cut into 1" pieces
1/2 c cold vegetable shortening cut into 1" pieces
1/4 c cold vodka
1/4 c cold water

Yeah, did you notice that? Process 1 1/2 c flour, salt and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add the butter and shortening and process it until it's a homogenous paste, (I mentioned weird, right?) about 15 seconds. Scrape down the bowl to distribute the grout, I mean, dough evenly around the bowl and add the remaining flour. Pulse it 4-6 times until the dough is broken up.

Sprinkle the vodka and water over the dough and, yes, it will seem like a ridiculous amount. Fold the water in with a spatula, pressing down until all of the liquid is absorbed and it's tacky and sticks together. Divide it in half. Flatten each into a 4" disk, wrap in plastic and put in the fridge for 45 min-2 days.

Definitely weird enough to try so I put it all together about 3 or 4 days ago and the dough has been sitting in my fridge ever since. I wasn't sure if it would work so I used a canned cherry pie filling (although Meag found a pit in her piece). I would recommend rolling the crust between two pieces of plastic wrap because it seriously feels like playdough (although pinching the crust and making a fancy edge was ridiculously easy because of this). This recipe made enough for a 8" pie with enough left over for probably a half dozen tart shells if I was inclined to make them (I'm not and the dough actually fell into my cast iron pan so...). did a simple egg wash and threw it into the oven at 350F for 15 minutes. Wrapped some foil around the edge of the crust and cooked it for another 20-25 minutes.

The final result? I will draw your attention to the flakes that are sprinkled liberally across the (slightly regrettable) filling. Even the bottom crust is well cooked, not soggy at all. Freaky, I tell you.

I was skeptical about this right up until I put the first bite of the edge into my mouth and felt it melt. Now I would probably put this crust up against any other that I've tried. I hope you're curious enough to try it, in fact, I dare you. That's right, I dare you to try it.

Lessons Learned From Sumplings Round Two

1. If you've posted the recipe before, have a look at the post because you probably made notes about what you would change. I was making the Satay sauce out of the Epicure Asian Kitchen cookbook and thought to myself, "You know, this makes a lot of sauce, I should only do a half recipe next time." So, guess what I said the first time I posted about it. Yep. *Sigh*.

2. Steam one tray at a time. The eating and the refilling of the tray are about the time it takes for the one in the wok to finish cooking. Don't put in two trays at once because it leaves you to just sit and fiddle with your chopsticks.

3. When you have to take a tray out of the wok, watch out for the steam. I have tender fingertips now because of that damn steam. If you refill the wok with water the steam goes down for a minute and that's the best time, it's certainly long enough to exchange trays. This as sort of the anti-FGF moment for me because, of course, I figured it out on the last tray.

We made three kinds of fillings: Pork/Beef and Vegetable, Spicy Crab, and Spinach with Shrimp. We also had three different sauces: Satay, Asian Sweet & Spicy (from the cruet), and Sesame Orange Dipping Sauce (see below).

1/2 c mayo
2 T rice wine vinegar
1 T frozen OJ concentrate
2 t VE Oriental Stir-fry Seasoning
1 t sesame oil
1 t soy sauce
1/2 t sesame seeds

Whisk first six and then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Or, if you're me: whisk everything together, throw it in an empty Epicure jar and put it in the fridge until you need it.

Kidding On The Square

Oh, this lonely picture. It would be vastly improved by the addition of... oh, I don't know... something. Maybe a description of the event it was obviously lovingly prepared for, I'll bet it was a celebration of some kind, maybe some big upcoming event like a shower or a... a bon voyage party or something. It would be kind of cool to know what it was made of. I'd love to try to replicate it sometime because it just looks so delicious but I'd have to figure out what sort of food went into it, and how much of each food. I'm sure there was some sort of order to the way things had to be done. Maybe we could figure it out.

Ahem.

**Editorial Note: The actual recipe can be found here**

Battling Risottos

Joe's becoming the Master of All Things Risotto so I'm taking a stab at retaining my risotto "cred" with this PLUS... I finally got to cook with saffron which has been on my Hundred List for ages. This was loosely taken from the Epicure Bella Cucina cookbook.

5 1/2 c vegetable stock (or a lighter chicken stock as I used)
3-4 threads saffron (YIPPEE)
2 T butter
1 1/2 c arborio rice
2 t VE Toasted Onion (or the 3-Onion crack)
1/3 c dry white wine (okay, the cookbook lists this as optional but in my world, wine is not optional when it comes to risotto, it is a hard fast rule. The other hard fast risotto/wine rule is that you are not limited to "dry white wine", you can of course use the last half cup of the wine left over from dinner the night before)
1/2 c frozen peas, thawed
Bunch of cooked shrimp
Good sized handful of pecorino cheese (the shrimp and cheese are just me, the cookbook stops at peas but along with the risotto/wine rule, there is also a risotto/cheese rule that I won't go into here today)

Heat the stock and saffron up to a gentle simmer and reduce temperature to keep hot.

Melt butter into a pan, add the rice and onion and cook for about 2 minutes or until the rice begins to turn translucent. Add the "optional" wine and stir until the wine has been absorbed by the rice. Then comes the fun part...

Step One: Add a ladle full of the stock to the rice in the pan. Stir until the stock is absorbed.
Step Two: Repeat step one.

Continue until you've run out of stock and/or the rice is al dente. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese then stir in the peas and shrimp. Cover for about 5 minutes, give it a stir and serve it.

I think the only thing that I would really change would be to take the tails off of the shrimp, I didn't mind so much but I don't think that Meag really got into it like that.

Oh yeah, and the saffron? I must sheepishly admit that I'm not sure I could taste it. I would have to make the whole thing again without the saffron and see if I could taste a difference. What I do know is that it was mighty tasty. K,J

Greek Pasta

This one is similar to my earlier all-oval meal with mushrooms. Instead, I replaced the mushrooms with black olives, ditched the garlic, and had feta instead of Parmesan cheese. Also, I cut things in half, so it wasn't quite as oval.

Some black olives cut in half
Some grape tomatoes cut in half
Olive oil
Feta Cheese
Pasta

Cook in olives and tomatoes in olive oil. Toss with pasta, and add feta at the end. Pretty simple, though possibly more advanced than bachelor chow.

When The World Hands You Ramen Noodles...

...make this instead.

2/3 c peanut sauce
2 T hoisin
1 t toasted sesame oil
2 packages Ramen
340 g cubed teriyaki flavoured tofu
1 med red onion, sliced
2 c broccoli florets
1 c baby corncobs, halved crossways
1 c sliced red bell pepper
1 c snow peas
1/2 c chopped green onion
1/4 coarsely chopped fresh basil or cilantro
1/4 c chopped peanuts for garnish

Mix the first three ingredients and set it aside. (Instead of using a "store bought" peanut sauce, I used the Satay sauce from the Asian Kitchen cookbook.)

Boil some water and pour it over the noodles in a bowl. Let them sit in the water for about a minute (seriously, no more than a minute or they get too mushy, I will probably use shanghai noodles next time). Drain them off and clip once or twice so they're not crazy long anymore.

Cut all of the vegetables in advance and then start. Saute the tofu in a little oil until they start to brown on the sides, pull it out and reserve. Saute the onions very briefly in a smidge of oil and then add 1/4 c water to the wok. Stir them for about 2 minutes or until they start to become tender. Add the rest of the vegetables and stir fry for about 4 minutes (that's what the recipe says to do, in reality, I would start with the snow peas and peppers for a couple of minutes and then add the broccoli and baby corn for the last couple of minutes. And I think significantly longer than four minutes but I really keep things moving in the pan). Add the green onion and stir fry another couple of minutes.

Add the reserved sauce and then the noodles and toss to coat. Return the tofu to the pan, stir to coat and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.

If you haven't guessed, this has a really strong peanut taste to it so don't say I didn't warn you.

Screwed Up Scallops

Rinse about 20 large sea scallops (about a pound in total) in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and set aside. Cook 3 slices of bacon until they're crisp, drain on paper towel and reserve the drippings in the pan. Crumble the bacon and set aside.

Sear the scallops in the drippings over med-high heat (tending towards high heat for a good sear) about 2 minutes/ side until lightly browned. Remove from the skillet and keep warm.

Deglaze the pan with about 1/2 cup of dry, white wine (although I used a Gewurztraminer this time because I had it open from the Longest Risotto In The World) and add about 1/3 c of chopped shallot or red onion (I used red onion this time) and about 1 t of minced garlic (yeah, a teaspoon. Like that's going to be enough! I actually used closer to 1 1/2 T but, say it with me now "I like garlic!")

Simmer for about 2 minutes or until the onion is tender and the wine has evaporated a bit. Add about a half cup of prepared Alfredo sauce (I realize that this is the part where you say "Now you tell me that I need Alfredo sauce! Well, shame on you for starting a recipe before reading all of the way through it first.) Add some lemon zest (or juice in a pinch) and mix it well. Add the bacon back to the pan and then gently stir the scallops into the sauce. Season with a little fresh pepper and you're good to go.

I served this over fettuccine noodles (it seemed to go with the Alfredo sauce part of the meal) and it was some tasty, I tell you.

I've called them Screwed Up Scallops because I'm still getting used to the new pan and I ended up browning the bacon a little more than I should have so, instead of the lovely creamy light sauce that I had the first time that I made this, I ended up with something considerably... browner. Still wicked tasty but... browner.

Katies Korma-Curry

Coming to the conclusion that I love Indian food and would love to eat more of it, being able to /cook/ an actual indian-esque meal is something of an accomplishment for me. Working with my burned copy of Winnipegger Ken Kostics "Whats For Dinner?", I used the base of a vegtable curry and just sort of did whatever the hell I wanted / whatever I had on hand, as we women are known to do. It also stained whatever it touched bright BRIGHT yellow, so that was rather amusing. (thats the Tumeric for you.)


1 small red onion, diced.
4 cloves of garlic (I like my garlic)

Put these in a saucepan and sautee untill onion is soft and translucent.

1/2 c. Coconut milk
1 bunch of Coriander, ribboned
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder

mix that about for a few minutes and then add...

2 carrots, coined, on a bias
1 tin of chickpeas
more coconut milk
a pinch of tumeric

let this thicken up for about 7 minutes on med-hi, covered.

Add 1/4 plain yoghurt and sprinkle with fresh corriander. Serve over Basmati rice and enjoy!

my boyfriend Ian said It was awesome and he doesn't even like chickpeas. :)

Just Had To Share

I promise that I'll goad Erin until she posts about the actual trifle but I had to post this video of the chilled and strained custard that was one of the tasty components.

For hip and modern ladies like us, there just isn't that much call for a fine custard as there was in, say, our grandmothers' days but I have to confess that I'm developing a real appreciation for foods that require that I actually stand in front of the stove and stir (i.e. custard, risotto, bechemel). It's just really kind of cool to watch them thicken as the temperature rises or the starch starts to soften or whatever sort of chemical magic they succumb to.

Okay, now that I've waxed rhapsodic about food, I'll get to my real point: Jiggly custard is really funny. Colin, Liam and I had way too much fun last night just wiggling that bowl back and forth.

You should try it. And then make trifle with it :D

** Editorial correction: I've been reminded that, while still hip and modern, not everyone posting on this blog falls into the category of "ladies". Sorry Joe! **