Daring Cooks' July Challenge: Nut Butters

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

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So. I know. I haven't posted in a month.  Moving, school, work, life, blah blah blah, I know, no excuse.  Please don't be mad at me, friends.  I am going to do my best not to let this happen again. 

Speaking of moving, here's a photo of my new kitchen:

 

I moved in with my friends Cindy and Blake about two weeks ago, and I'm absolutely loving the new place.  Even though I haven't been posting that much, I've been having a lot of fun cooking in our little kitchen.We've been doing a lot of late night, post-work dinner parties. Kind of ridiculous, really.

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Back to the Daring Cooks. We had to make a homemade nut butter and use it in a recipe.  I chose to make almond butter and banana pancakes. 

My chef at work said I should steep the almonds in milk to get them kind of soft, which I did.

When the almonds were a little softer to bite, I strained them.

 After the almonds were strained, I put them in the food processor (Finally! A food processor! Yay for Blake!) and slowly added the reserved milk as needed.

I actually ended up using all the milk, plus a little oil.  Finish to taste with a sprinkling of kosher salt.

 For the pancakes, I used my favorite recipe from Joy of Cooking.  My blueberry pancake post lists the recipe, if you want it. This time around, I chopped up a few bananas and added them to the batter, along with some cinnamon.

 I spread a little of the almond butter on each pancake, and drizzled them with some local honey.

 Served with some sausage and a little fresh banana.  Delicious and easy!

Biscuits & Gravy

So, after a long hiatus, I'm finally back! I promise I'm going to post with a little more regularity, it's just been a whirlwind month for me.  Thanks to my little group of loyal readers who are bearing with me and have patiently waited for this phase of my life to pass.

I'm done with my first semester of culinary school! With all A's to show for it!  It did get a little hairy there towards the end, but I still feel really good about my decision to start [and stick to] this program.

~

For my first post in a while, I decided to make biscuits and gravy.  I've been eating a lot of comfort food lately, which is definitely the opposite of what I should be doing at the start of bikini season here in beautiful Charleston, SC.  Regardless, I'm doing it anyways, so I figure I might as well post about it.

This could even be a nice breakfast to make your mom or your wife or whomever you deem appropriate on Mother's Day.  If you're not working brunch, that is. Which I am doing, along with everyone else I know, considering nearly everyone else I know is a Food & Bev kid.

I guess some [not southern] people have a hard time understanding the concept of biscuits and gravy.   I'm always appalled when people have never heard of, or tasted, biscuits and gravy for breakfast.  It's in that same category as grits.  It's surprising how many people are like "What are grits?" when I'm waiting tables. It's a pretty difficult concept for me to grasp.  I mean, my sister and I were spoonfed this stuff as kids.  But I digress.

I made buttermilk biscuits by scratch, but they didn't turn out remarkably well.  I actually threw out the first batch of dough because it just wasn't right, and the second batch still didn't turn out as fluffy and nice as I wanted it to.  So, I'm leaving the biscuit recipe out of the equation.  Here is my favorite recipe for country gravy, which is based on a recipe I found on allrecipes.com.

Country Sausage Gravy

 

1 pound pork sausage (I used less than a pound, and threw in a hot bratwurst I had leftover from a pool day this week)
3/4 onion, finely chopped
3/4 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
S&P to taste
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
2 cups milk, divided
chicken stock, to taste
white wine, to taste
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

In a skillet on medium heat cook pork, onion, peppers, red pepper, chili powder, and garlic.

Cool until pork is crumbly.  Drain off excess fat, leaving a small amount.

Combine butter, salt, and pepper with the meat mixture and stir until the butter melts.  Slowly sift flour over the top.  Mix gently and allow mixture to cook for 5 minutes.  Be careful not to let it burn.  Don't forget to scrape the bottom of the pan.  Add the thyme.

Slowly stir in milk, about a half cup at a time, and incorporate it well. when the mixture thickens, add more milk.  Do not let it boil vigorously, or it will burn.

Add a splash of chicken stock and white wine to taste.  I thought this added flavor and a hint of acid, which this heavy gravy needed.  If it thickens too much, add more milk.  Adjust the taste with more salt and pepper as needed.

Just before serving, add the parsley, and about 1/4 cup more milk; the gravy will thicken quickly as it cools.

Apparently, the leftover gravy develops more flavor if you let it refrigerate overnight. Obviously, I had leftovers, so I'm curious to see what happens.  All I know is that this recipe is easy and delicious.

Happy early Mother's Day!

Homemade Blueberry Pancakes

And a special thanks to Jen Yu from the beautiful blog Use Real Butter for the lovely scarf I recently received! A little while back, I won one of her featured giveaways, and the prize was a scarf made personally by her from Manos del Uruguay wool.  I even got to choose my own color (agate multi)!  Thanks again, Jen :)

I'm wearing it right now :)

Okay, on to pancakes.  I'm getting down to the nitty gritty, grocery-wise (pay day is tomorrow), but I did have this container of  nice blueberries sitting in my fridge, begging to be used up.  So, I decided to make pancakes from scratch.  I know it doesn't seem like much, but I've pretty much always been a Bisquick girl when it comes to pancakes (or biscuits, for that matter), so this was kind of a big decison for me.  So, of course, I consulted good ol' Joy of Cooking, and was surprised at how easy they were!

Blueberry Pancakes

from Joy of Cooking

*I halved this recipe*

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/2 cups milk

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

(blueberries)

Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Whisk wet ingredients in a smaller bowl.

dry & wet

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.  Some lumps are okay- you don't want to overmix.

Add wet to dry.

Add blueberries!

Blueberries

Make sure your griddle or skillet is very hot before you start to pour the batter.  To test it, sprinkle a bit of water on the hot surface.  If it hisses and sputters, it's ready.  Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto the griddle.

They're ready to flip when you see bubbles forming.

Cross-section

Serve with butter and syrup!

My First Soufflé!

It fell a little while I was trying to get a good picture...
 

Ive been wanting to attempt a soufflé for a long time now.  I hate to admit it, but I've been putting it off because, quite frankly,  it intimidated me.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the soufflé, it is an egg-based dish that can be savory or sweet, in which whipped egg whites are folded into a base to give it a delicate lift when baked. 

Finally, I mustered up the courage to try this thing.  I decided on a savory cheese soufflé because I'm less familiar with savory soufflés than sweet ones.  I adapted the recipe from The Joy of Cooking, and I halved it for 2 individual soufflé ramekins:

Cheese Soufflé

 (makes about 4 servings)

For Béchamel (or white sauce):

(makes 1 cup)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

pinch ground nutmeg 

herbs and seasonings to taste

*I used about 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley and a dash of lemon juice* 

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  Whisk in flour until well-blended and smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat and slowly whisk in the milk. 

Return the pan to heat and bring to a simmer, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.  

Continue to cook, whisking until the sauce is smooth and hot and has thickenened, 1 to 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.   Add herbs and seasonings.

 

For soufflé:

butter and grated Parmesan for ramekins

1 cup Béchamel

6-7 tablespoons grated cheese

*I used about 3 Tbs Parmesan, 2 Tbs Gouda, and 2 Tbs sharp Cheddar*

3 egg  yolks, beaten

4 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Generously butter soufflé ramekins and dust the insides with Parmesan cheese.  Shake out the excess.

Bring the Béchamel to a boil in a large saucepan.  Remove from heat and let stand for 30 seconds.   Add the cheese, and stir well.  

Add egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 

 

Beat the whites until they are stiff, but not dry.  Fold into the cheese mixture.

 

Pour into the prepared ramekin(s).

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until risen and set.

 

Not gorgeous, but they puffed!

We had these for breakfast, with some bacon and fruit.  These could be a lunch or dinner-type thing as well, just remember that the timing is tricky.   I wish the tops had risen a little more evenly, but I don't know what I could have done differently to fix that. 

Mmm, breakfast!

They tasted better than I hoped they would! Very delicate and light, and the flavor was really nice.  Subtle but definitely there.  I'll make these again- they really weren't that hard!  First, I'm going to tackle chocolate ones for dessert.  I'll let you know when it happens!

Culinary School Update: Knife Skills & a Delicious Breakfast

Today we went over basic knife skills in Food Production class.  Aren't you proud of me for bringing my camera, charged and ready to go?  The top row is potatoes; from left to right are Brunoise, Julienne, and Batonette (french fry cut).  Bottom row I have carrots, both Brunoise and Julienne, and fine minced garlic.  

I've been trying to work on my knife skills at home for a while now.  I've been small dicing everything I can get away with.  Overall, a pretty easy, fun day at school.

~

Yesterday, I made a rather indulgent breakfast for Brandon and myself: steak and eggs!  I had one lonely New York strip tucked away in the freezer, left over from some steak night dinner, which I tried to Pittsburgh because its Brandon's favorite way to eat steak.  I think I'm slowly mastering the art of Pittsburgh-ing steak, if I may say so myself :)

I made a cheesy potato hash with the Simply Potato pre-shredded stuff (hey, it was a workday people) and some frozen peas (getting down to the nitty-gritty, grocery-wise).  I would have felt guilty if I hadn't incorporated some sort of veggie!  An over-easy egg finishes if off!

Culinary School Update: Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins & My First Week!

 

Check out the sour cream blueberry muffins I made today in baking class!  They actually turned out really well - muffins aren't usually my thing, but these were so light and fluffy!  I had mine with a tall glass of milk :)

This semester, I have Principles of Food Production on Mondays, and Bakeshop Production on Wednesdays.  Monday we didn't do too much- it was your typical first day introduction and orientation stuff.  Today we still had a bunch of housekeeping things to go over, but we did at least have time to make these muffins.  Everyone else put chocolate chips in theirs, but I was a little hungover, er, under-the-weather, so chocolate wasn't really working for me. I was going to just leave mine plain sour cream, but the chef asked if I would prefer to use blueberries. Which, I do, always, or at least when it comes to muffins.

I brought my camera to class, but the battery died as soon as I turned it on. At least Chef Vagasky let us take some muffins home so I could snap this shot.  I'm going to try to keep up with the things I'm doing in class so I can show it to you guys.  I can't promise I won't fall behind, but the goal at least is to post the pictures of what I make in class on a regular basis.  We'll see how it goes!

Don't forget to log on tomorrow to check out my second Daring Cooks challenge!

Hearty Breakfast Oatmeal

So, I'm still sick. And my tooth is still kind of bothering me, so I've been brainstorming on hearty, easy to eat, feel-better foods to make myself.  When I thought of oatmeal! Not the cinnamon & brown sugar variety that comes in a packet (which does have a place in my heart), but the real stuff, the kind that takes a little patience to make.  

I went as far as to go to the store just to get said real stuff, along with some blueberries and cream (antioxidants!).  As far as anyone in the Craig family is concerned, there is only one brand to get.

While Mom typically does most of the cooking, Dad always seems to make the oatmeal.  And he only buys this kind.  Its a little more expensive, but I was okay with a splurge.

Looks a bit like hamster food

So, its pretty easy to make, but like good grits, it takes a little time.  Stir one cup oatmeal into four cups briskly boiling water.  Stir well.

 

Be patient...

When the oatmeal begins to thicken, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

That's more like it

About 10 minutes before the oatmeal is finished cooking, I like to add a touch of heavy cream and a pat of butter.  Stir well, and add water if you feel like its getting too thick.

That's about it! Everyone likes to eat theirs differently. First, I added some honey.
 

Brown sugar is nice too

Then, lots of blueberries and a little cream floated on top!

And there you have it! Brandon was gearing up to watch his Gamecocks play, so he ate his like a true Irishman, with a dark porter in hand. I kid you not.  As for me, hot tea is all I'm drinking these days. Sigh.

Cranberry Orange Bread

A cross-section

The restaurant apparently ordered wayyy too many bags of cranberries for Thanksgiving, because when I got back from my little vacation, they were practically forcing them on the rest of the staff.  So, I took some home, thinking I would make muffins or something. I got online, hoping to find something with cranberries and orange zest, because I think that combo goes rather nicely together.  I found this recipe for Cranberry Orange Loaf on allrecipes.com.  I changed it around a bit to satisfy my personal tastes, and added a simple orange glaze based on user suggestions.  I also doubled the recipe below to make two loaves instead of one.  So, here it is:

Cranberry Orange Bread

(the following recipe makes one loaf)

  

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

1/2 cup sliced almonds (the original recipe called for pecans, but I thought the almonds would be a nice substitution) ( I love almonds)

1/4 cup margarine, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (I added this too)
3/4 cup orange juice 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and sugar a 9x5 inch loaf pan.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in orange zest, cranberries, and almonds.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together margarine, sugar, egg, and almond extract until smooth.  Stir in orange juice.  Beat in flour mixture until just moistened.  

 Batter

Pour into prepared pan(s).  

Going into the oven

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the bread springs back when lightly touched.  Let stand 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool.  

Drizzled with orange glaze

This is where I added the orange glaze. I just whisked some powdered sugar, OJ, and vanilla extract together and poured it over the warm bread.

 Went really well with mimosas for breakfast

This recipe was super easy.  The bread turned out nice and moist, and the overall flavor was tasty.  The cranberries were still pretty tart, but I think the light glaze helped balance it out.  Took the extra loaf in to work since they made me take the cranberries in the first place!

A Rare Sunday Morning

The pampered and the pauper

Rare because I usually have to work the dreaded brunch shift.  Indeed, I was scheduled to work a double (as usual), cocktailing tonight.  When I came in though, we had too many servers on and I was asked if I wanted the morning off. Which, of course, I did.

So, what to do?

I visited my favorite coffee shop right down the road, Alchemy Coffee. Got their signature coffee, The Alchemist, which is a mocha sprinkled with a bit of cayenne pepper.  The cayenne adds a nice spicy complexity to the cocoa/coffee flavor.

Picked up a Sunday paper (which I never do) and read the entire thing, front to back. 

Spied on Bam Bam spying on the black kitty outside.

And.. made a big batch of breakfast hash.  I had a leftover baked potato from lunch the other day ( I always bake one extra with this very breakfast in mind) (Mom gets props for teaching me to do this) that I chopped up.  To start, I sauteed the onions and garlic until they softened.  In the meantime, I cooked a couple boneless chicken breasts (one for the hash, and one to have in the fridge for the next random meal) (are you seeing the trend?) and steamed a bunch of broccoli florets.  Add the potatoes to the onions, brown, and add the chicken.  In goes the broccoli, some frozen corn, salt, pepper, chili powder, dried thyme, and it looks like this:

This is one of my dad's favorite breakfasts

Then, cook an egg.

Still trying to perfect this art

 You know what to do next.

Breakfast!

Now that I'm fat and happy, I have to go back in for the night shift. Boo. At least I had a nice morning :)