White Chicken Chili

Who doesn't like a 1-pot meal that has spent the day cooking away and is ready for you when you get home?  Slow cookers are perfect for that scenario and chili is an easy choice.  As much as I like your standard chili, I do enjoy trying different variations and spices.  This white chicken chili is a great example of a deviation from the norm and it uses hominy which I love.  I must confess, it's not entirely a 1-pot meal, you do use a skillet to brown the aromatics before putting them in the slow cooker, but it's well worth the extra 10 minutes.  This dish is easy to prep the night before and only needs about 5 hours on low to cook.  (Therefore a programmable slow cooker may be necessary if you're gone for a normal 8-hour work day.) 

I actually made this early on a Saturday morning where my husband was kind enough to get up at 5 am to switch it on (as I only have the old-fashioned non-programmable slow cooker) as we needed it ready by 11am to feed a group of 10 adults before our adventure to the Porter Perfect Pint Festival.  That being said, the recipe is easy to double to feed a crowd and you won't sacrifice any flavor.  Keep in mind that if you do prep this ahead of time, when you take it out of the fridge, you will need to allow extra time for the contents to warm up before the actual cooking time begins.

White Chicken Chili
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen's Slow Cooker Revolution
Serves 6 to 8
Cooking Time: 4 to 6 hours on Low

3 cups chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can white or yellow hominy, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, minced
2-4 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded, and minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
3 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed, trimmed
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp minced jarred pickled jalapeno chiles (optional)
1/4 cup minced cilantro
sliced jalapenos for garnish & serving (optional)
2 avocados, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch pieces---do this just before serving


Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add onions, jalapenos, garlic, cumin, and coriander and cook until vegetables are softened and lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Stir in 1 cup of the broth, scraping up and browned bits; transfer to slow cooker.

Stir beans into slow cooker and add remaining broth and hominy.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and nestle into slow cooker.  Cover and cook until chicken is tender, approximately 4 to 6 hours on low.

Transfer chicken to cutting board, let cool slightly, then shred into bite-size pieces, discarding bones.  Let chili settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using a large spoon.

Stir in shredded chicken and pickled jalapenos (optional) and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes.  Stir in cilantro, season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish and serve with the avocado and additional jalapeno slices (if desired).

Barbecued Beef Brisket

I love the weather this time of year.  The crisp, cool air gives me an excuse to pull out my slow cooker to celebrate the changing seasons.  Not that the slow cooker can only be used in cooler weather, it's just the thought and taste of comfort food in the crock pot seems more appropriate during the fall and winter months. This season I started off with a brisket.  I can't say that a cut of brisket is the first cut of beef that I would choose to bring home.  It was part of "the package deal" when we purchased an entire half of cow's worth of meat and filled up our freezer for the winter.  My first thought for the brisket was my grandmother's traditional BBQ brisket that was always a family favorite for the holidays.  Alas, I do not have her recipe (yet) and since she is currently away from home, I was forced to find another recipe.

The search lead me to a recent purchase in my cooking library, America's Test Kitchen's Slow Cooker Revolution.This cookbook has already proven its worth to me as every recipe I've tried thus far has been delicious.  This is also an amazing feat for a slow cooker cookbook because let's face it, most slow cooker recipes seem to taste and look the same after a while.  While not every recipe in this book has a photo (which I often frown upon), I have let that detail go in my rating because as I already mentioned, everything thus far has turned out very well.

This recipe for Barbecued Beef Brisket also follows suit.  Admittedly, I did not follow the instructions exactly as stated.  This is mostly due to lack of preparation (i.e. laziness) and not realizing that the dry rub should have been done 8-24 hours before the cooking process was to begin.  Nevertheless, I put the rub on and then threw it in the crockpot on high for 6 hours and it still turned out delicious.  There is a delicious jus to serve with the brisket and served with a side of mashed potatoes and a vegetable of your choice, the meal is complete.  This is perfectly suited for entertaining or simply for a day when your prep and cook time is limited.  (Just be sure to remember and turn the slow cooker on before you leave the house in the morning!)

Barbecued Beef Brisket
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen's Slow Cooker Revolution

For the dry rub:
1/4 cup dark brown brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
1/2 Tbsp sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce (optional)
2 teaspoons black pepper

Mix together. Rub mixture over brisket, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refridgerate for 8 to 24 hours.
Unwrap brisket and place in slow cooker. (Remember, if you forget to do the rub in advance, you can still put the rub on and put it directly in the crockpot.  The flavor will still be good, but more muted.)

Remaining ingredients:
1 (3 pound) flat-cut beef brisket
1 large onion, minced
2 Tbsp tomato paste
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (optional)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp liquid smoke


Microwave onions, tomato paste, garlic, oil, chili powder, and remaining tablespoon chipotles in bowl, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir mix together and transfer to slow cooker.  Add the water and cover.  Cook until beef is tender, approximately 9 to 11 hours on low or 5 to 7 hours on high.

When finished cooking, transfer brisket to cutting board, tent loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes.  Let braising liquid settle for 5 minutes and then skim fat from surface.  Whisk in ketchup, vinegar, and liquid smoke and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Slice brisket in 1/2 inch thick slices against the grain (very important).  Spoon sauce over meat to serve.

Coconut Bread

I have to admit a tiny, devious secret; I have an ulterior motive to this recipe.  It is a mere stepping stone towards a dish I really have a craving for.  Let me explain. I enjoy scuba diving and on my most recent trip diving in the Bahamas, we stopped at a local restaurant for breakfast before boarding our boat.  I really enjoy breakfast foods so choosing just one item off the menu is often difficult.  I usually try to convince my husband to get something different so that we can share.

This time around, I selected the coconut french toast.  It seems rather simple, I'm sure, but it's something that I would never take the time to make for myself.  Week days are too busy to indulge in fancy breakfast foods, only leaving the weekend to partake in the more decadent dishes. Getting back to my story, it was absolutely delicious. You could taste the butter that it was cooked in and the sprinkle of confectioners sugar on the top made the maple syrup almost unnecessary.

Since that day, I have tried only once to recreate the dish.  My version was good, but it seemed like a lot of effort for only a second-place finish.  I'm hoping that this recipe for coconut bread will help me get one step closer to the flavor that I can only seem to find in the Caribbean.  The bread itself turned out great both moist and flavorful.  Slice it and serve it warm with a small pad of butter or sprinkle some powdered sugar on it.  It makes a great breakfast treat or a light post-dinner dessert.  I'll be sure to let you know if the coconut french toast turns out, however, this recipe was good enough to hold up on its own.

 

Coconut Bread
Adapted from Bill's Sydney Food
Makes 8-10 thick slices


2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup milk (not skim)
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup caster (superfine) sugar
3/4 cup shredded coconut
2 Tbsp butter, melted

To Serve:
butter
confectioners (powdered) sugar



Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Lightly whisk eggs, milk and vanilla together.

Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl, add sugar and coconut, and stir to combine. Make a well in the center and gradually stir in the egg mixture until just combined.  Add melted butter and stir until the mixture is just smooth, being careful not to over mix.

Pour into a greased and floured 8.5 x 4 inch (loaf) pan and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour or until bread is cooked when tested with a skewer or toothpick.

Leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to cool further on a wire rack. Serve with a pad of butter and/or dusted with powdered sugar.

Not Your Mother's Scrambled Eggs

Rise and shine!  We've all had scrambled eggs for breakfast. Even someone who has never cooked before could probably whip up a dish of scrambled eggs without screwing them up.  What if I told you that while you can't really screw them up, you can totally make them better?


Case in point:  I have always been a follower of the cooking show Good Eats hosted by Alton Brown.  He was the first to point out that I was cooking my eggs incorrectly.  A scrambled egg should be removed from the pan when it still looks runny as it will continue to cook when laid upon the plate.  By the time the first bite hits your mouth, it will be finished cooking and done so to perfection. 


Alton's second point made is confirmed by this recipe taken from Bill Granger's book Bill's Sydney Food. The magic ingredient to fantastic scrambled eggs is heavy cream.  Yes, I know, I can hear the moaning and groaning from here, but it's true.  As much as our diet-fad culture wants us to cringe at the very thought of heavy cream, it really does make the world taste better.  Every now and then,  treat yourself and buy a small container of it and make several dishes in a row that require it. Using it up with no waste justifies the cost (which I admit seems ridiculous) and you get to treat your palate to a few meals indulging in rich, decadent flavors. As it was said to Mikey so many years ago, "Try it. You'll like it." Trust me.

Scrambled Eggs
Adapted from Bill's Sydney Food
Serves 1

2 eggs, large
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
pinch of salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

Place eggs, cream and salt in a bowl and whisk together.
Melt the butter in a non-stick rying pa over high heat, but becareful not to burn the butter.
Pour in the egg mixture and cook for 20 seconds or until gently set around the edges.
Stir the eggs with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, gently bringing the egg mixture on the outside of the pan towards the center.  The idea is to fold the eggs rather than to scramble them, but really, I just push them towards the center of the pan.  Leave alone to cook for another 20 seconds longer and then repeat the folding process.  When the eggs are just barely set (yes, they will look runny), turn out onto a plate and serve. Sprinkle salt and peper to taste.

Ricotta Hotcakes

One-fourth of the month of August is already gone. That is an even more depressing fact when I realize this is my first post of the month.  It's been a super busy summer for us and I'm sure your household is no exception.  I realized, by accident, that we recently ate a week's worth of vegetarian meals.  This isn't really a big deal for us accept my husband is a meat and potatoes man.  Even more ironically, my husband admitted that the vegetarian meals we had were so good that he didn't even miss eating meat. So I decided to run with it and add another vegetarian meal to the list.

This picture may look like ordinary pancakes, but I guarantee you, they do not taste like ordinary pancakes.  As the recipe title suggests, these are made with ricotta cheese.  This recipe comes from Bill Granger's cookbook, Bill's Sydney Food.Bill lives in Sydney, Australia and runs a tiny little restaurant in the Darlinghurst region of the city.  It's unfortunate that I didn't cross paths with Bill's restaurant when I was living in Sydney because surely I would have become a regular there. His cuisine offerings focus more on breakfast and light lunch fare but that wouldn't stop me from preparing any of his dishes for dinner. I think I really enjoy his recipes because he is not a classically trained chef.  He has simply dabbled in food all of his life, cooks for his wife and children daily, and he worked hard to get his restaurant up and running. His focus, like many of my favorite chefs, is fresh, quality ingredients as the base for simple yet flavor-bursting dishes. 

These pancakes are true to that mentality. I love pancakes but absolutely refuse to make (or eat) them at home.  I can never get them to taste as they do in the restaurant. These hotcakes are my one and only exception and they are the only ones that I will make for my family.  Admittedly, these are a bit more work than your average "just add water" pancake mixes, but I don't care.  I will gladly dirty an extra bowl or two just to bite into one of these babies.  You don't even taste the ricotta.  It simply brings creaminess and body to the plate.  The key is in the egg whites.  You must beat the egg whites to a stiff peak before folding them into the batter. However, it is really easy to hand your 5-year-old the hand mixer and have them beat the egg whites while you prepare everything else.  This is a great recipe for involving little helping hands and you can essentially eat them any time of day.

Ricotta Hotcakes
Adapted from Bill's Sydney Food
Serves 4-6 (depending on the size of the hotcakes)

1 and 1/2 cup ricotta
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs, separated
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
butter

For Serving:
confectioners sugar
maple syrup


Place ricotta, milk and egg yolks in a mixing bowl and mix to combine.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into another bowl.  Add to the ricotta mixture and mix until just combined.

Place egg whites in a clean dry bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.  Fold egg whites through the batter (the book says in two batches, however, I have sometimes done it all at once and didn't notice a difference) with a large metal spoon.

Lightly grease a large non-stick frying pan with a small portion of butter (butter tastes better, but you can substitute a cooking spray) and drop approximately 2 tablespoons of batter per hotcake into the pan.  Don't cook more than 4 at a time as you need a little extra "flipping room."

Cook over low to medium heat for 2 minutes or until the undersides are golden.  Flip hotcakes (carefully! they are delicate) and cook on the the other side until golden and cooked through. 

Sprinkle with confectioners sugar or maple syrup and serve immediately.

NOTE:  The book indicates that the hotcake batter can be stored for up to 24 hours, covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator.  I have not yet tried this but I image they do it at the restaurant all the time.

Greek Frittata with Spinach and Potato

I admit it. I'm a Costco shopper. I know that not everything there is a good deal and buying in bulk goes slightly against my anti-hoarding tendencies, but I really do like a lot of the items that they offer.  One item in particular (and this may sound silly) is their bag of baby spinach.  They sell a 5 lb bag of cleaned, trimmed, baby spinach leaves for $5.  That is way more than I can produce out of my garden and for $1/lb cleaned and trimmed, how can I say no?

However, I don't like to waste either. We do have a compost heap in the backyard to properly recycle food scraps, but I still don't like having to toss food out.  So once I buy this rather large bag of spinach leaves, I must dig out all my spinach recipes and put them to work. This recipe is a new one, but certainly one that I will use again.  This one was inspired from Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best as it's one of those "suggested recipes" where they only give you the idea and not the "how-to."  It was really easy and ready to eat in less than 40 minutes with minimal hands-on time.  This made for a delicious dinner but could also be served for lunch or breakfast.

Greek Frittata with Spinach and Potato
Inspired by Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best
Serves 4-6

8 eggs
4 cups raw baby spinach (or a 10-oz frozen package of chopped spinach, thawed and drained well)
4 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon fresh dill (or 2 tablespoons dried)
1/2 cup heavy cream (though milk would be fine also)
3 cups diced potatoes (I used a package of frozen diced as I didn't have any fresh but make sure they are thawed)
salt and pepper to taste


Heat the oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet (oven safe). Cook the potatoes until almost done. Add the scallions for just a few minutes.  During this time, mix the eggs and cream together in a separate bowl.

Add the spinach into the skillet and cover with a tight fitting lid.  Turn the heat down to medium low.  You want to steam the spinach until it wilts, but do not stir.  This should take a few minutes.  When it looks wilted, sprinkle the feta and dill above the spinach. Pour the egg mixture over the top. Add a dash of salt and pepper on the top (optional).

Turn the heat down to low and cook for 8-10 minutes or until the top is almost set.  Slide under a preheated broiler to finish cooking and brown the top. Cut into wedges and serve hot or cold.  For lunch or dinner, serve with a fresh green salad.

Balsamic-Macerated Strawberries

Yes, I know.  Technically, strawberry season has come and gone.  Therefore I know the package that I recently purchased was carted in from elsewhere, but I can't help that I'm a sucker for the delicious red fruit (and so are my girls to be honest).  I always want to make something with them, however, they usually get eaten too quickly and I am not left with much to work with.  I have managed to make a delicious strawberry bread with them and put them in salads with a nice balsamic vinaigrette dressing and some goat cheese, but that is about the extent of my creativity.

This time around, I actually hid the strawberries in the back of the refrigerator back behind the leftovers as I found a new recipe for them in my copy of Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best, balsamic-macerated strawberries.  The notes in the recipe indicate that it can be served as a dessert or as a filling or a topping, a nice versatile dish in my mind.  So I actually made a chocolate pound cake so that I could serve the topping as a topping.  After the pound cake was made and set to cool, I had to sneak a taste of the macerated strawberries and decided they should be served on their own, and I went so far as to serve them as a side dish rather than dessert.  This was probably a little non-traditional, but it tasted great with the other meal pairings and, again, great for a hot summer day.  Thankfully, I still had a chocolate pound cake to serve for dessert.  Just add a dollop of whipped cream and serve. (Yes, you will note that this photo is from a previous post, but I can't help it if two components of the meal were recipes were from this month's featured cookbook.)

Balsamic-Macerated Strawberries
Taken from Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best
Serves 4-8 (depending on if it's served as dessert, filling, or topping)

2 lbs fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced 1/8 to 1/4 thick (about 4 cups)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
8-10 medium fresh basil leaves (cannot used dried)


In a large bowl, gently toss the strawberries with the sugar and vinegar.  Let sit at room temperature until the strawberries have released their juices but are not yet mushy, about 30 minutes.  (Don't let them sit for more than 90 minutes or they'll start to collapse.)

Just before serving, stack the basil leaves on a cutting board and roll them vertically into a loose cigar shape.  Using a sharp chef's knife, very thinly slice across the roll to make a fine chiffonade of basil.  Scatter the basil among the strawberries just before serving.

Serving ideas:
-over grilled or toasted pound cake. Garnish with a dollop of creme fraiche.
-put the berries on split biscuits for shortcakes; top with whipped cream and scatter with the basil.
-mash the berries slightly and fold into whipped cream for a quick fool. Garnish with the basil.
-serve as is in small bowls for dessert, or in my case, a nice summer side dish.

Minty Quinoa Tabbouleh

After four days in a row of working nights, I admit to not having cooked much last week. Actually, I don't think I cooked at all.  Of course this meant that I had plenty of "free time" to plan the next meal when I eventually had the opportunity to provide for my family. So in perusing through the pages of Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best, I came across a recipe for Minty Quinoa Tabbouleh.  Mind you that I already enjoy tabbouleh, however, I normally make it with bulgur and not quinoa.  Having a friend that absolutely adores cooking/eating quinoa, I figured I should give this one a whirl. 

Luckily, the only two ingredients that I didn't have on hand were a cucumber (not ready from the garden yet) and the fresh mint so I can easily classify this recipe as a garden/pantry meal.  I plucked the first tomato from the garden for this dish and was able to get some fresh mint from my neighbor.  The cucumber, unfortunately, was from the grocery store.  No matter though, this was a great summer tasty treat.  The quinoa cooks in less than 15 minutes and you can finish all your chopping during that time.  After the quinoa cools, throw it all together and stick it in the fridge to let the flavors meld and tah dah! A great summer side dish.  I served this along side of Grilled Chickpea Burgers with Creamy Lemon Tahini Sauce and they were well matched (also perfect for a vegetarian evening). And yes, there is a third item on the plate that I have not yet described, but I will get to that in my next post...

Minty Quinoa Tabbouleh
Adapted from Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best
Serves 6 to 8

1 1/2cups quinoa
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 1/2cups finely diced tomatoes (canned is okay)
1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (flat-leaf)
1 cup peeled, seeded, finely diced cucumber
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus extra to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint (cannot use dried)

Rinse the quinoa well in a bowl of cool water and drain.  Bring the quinoa and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a boil in 3 cups of water in a medium saucepan over high heat.  Cover, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is translucent and tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.  (The outer germ rings of the grain will remain chewy and white. Some germ rings may separate from the grains and will look like white squiggles.)  Immediately fluff the quinoa with a fork and turn out onto a baking sheet to cool.

When cool, fluff the quinoa again and transfer to a large bowl. Add the tomato, parsley, cucumber, scallion, oil, lemon juice, cumin, cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon salt.  Toss well. Cover and refrigerate to let the flavors mingle, at least 2 hours or overnight.

**The recipe states that this should be served at room temperature, however, served chilled on a hot summer day was also very nice.

Before serving, stir in the mint. Taste and add more oil and lemon juice and salt as needed.

Fresh Cherry Clafoutis

I admit that I have a small weakness when it comes to French food.  I love almost all French food and yet can make hardly none of it (I'm sure there is a grammatical error in there).  Maybe it stems from the fact that France was my first venture abroad when I was 19.  Maybe it was because I lived in the south of France for a summer when I was 23. No matter the reason, I do enjoy french cooking, er, I mean eating.

Today's feature recipe from Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best is a french dessert that I have been meaning to try for a while.  The dessert, Cherry Clafoutis is defined as "a baked French dessert of black cherries arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. The clafoutis is dusted with powdered sugar and served lukewarm" as per Wikipedia. The irony of my sharing this definition with you is that I had to look up what a clafoutis was because I didn't actually know myself.  I could guess what the look and texture should be based on the ingredients but I wanted to know the technicalities.

This recipe, of course, brings me to address the main ingredient, cherries.  Last week I spent an hour up on a ladder picking these tart beauties out of a tree on my parents' new property less than 10 minutes away.  I then proceeded to spend the next hour pitting them.  My mother had asked me to bring my cherry pitter with to her house and was bummed when I handed her a paperclip. Quite honestly, they were so ripe that if I gave them a little squeeze, the pit came right out.  I knew that I was going to be baking with the cherries so I wasn't too concerned with how they looked post-pitting.  If appearance is key for you, just use a large paperclip to push the pit out, leaving the cherry itself looking wholesome.  This recipe was not difficult at all (minus the picking and pitting) and so if you have the cherries available it's a great last-minute dessert to throw together for guests.

With my remaining loot of cherries, I plan to make a cherry cobbler, however, I don't have my own recipe...yet.  So if you have a delicious one that you would like to share, please send it my way!
Bon appétit!

Fresh Cherry Clafoutis
Adapted from Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best
Serves 8


softened, unsalted butter, for the pan
1 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extra (vanilla bean paste if you have it)
pinch of salt
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted
4 cups pitted fresh cherries (be sure to use a sour cherry like Montmorency if possible, but Bing is
     delicious too)
confectioners' sugar, for sprinkling


Heat the oven to 350 °F .  Butter a shallow baking dish (such as a 10-inch quiche mold or pie plate).

Combine the milk, cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, and flour in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until froth, about 5 minutes.

Pour enough batter into the prepared baking dish to make about a 1/4-inch layer; reserve the rest. 

Bake the thin layer just until it forms a skin, about 5 minutes. Remove the dish and arrange the cherries in a single layer over the surface.

Pour the remaining batter over them. Return the clafoutis to the oven and bake until it's puffed and brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.  Let cool slightly (or to room temperature if you prefer) and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Creamy Leek and Prosciutto Pasta

I love leeks.  I only recently became acquainted with them in the past 2 years.  I would always seem them in the produce section of the grocery store, I would look them over and note how similar they looked to scallions (green onions) and then move on my merry way.  It's not that I was opposed to them, I just didn't know what do with them, which is probably my biggest reason for not picking up more radical unknowns from the produce department.  For example, would you know what to do with a rutabaga or celery root?  My recipes for them are very limited, but I've made it a personal mission to be more experimental with less commonly used vegetables. If you need to learn how to properly clean leeks (because I surely didn't know), you can click here for an easy description, however, this book Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best does explain how to clean them.  It may seem like extra work to clean them out, but the flavor that they deliver is amazing and might be tarnished if you are eating sand with every bite.

Remember how I mentioned that this month's feature of Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best is great for featuring seasonal fruits and vegetables and suggesting recipes that utilize them?  Remember also how I was slightly irritated with said recipe suggestions because they don't actually tell you how to make the dish, no ingredient list, no amounts, nothing?  Well, today's recipe stems from just that.  In the corner of the leek page, they gave a recipe suggestion for Creamy Leek and Prosciutto Pasta, and the instructions were as such, "Toss cooked fettuccine with sauteed leeks, sliced prosciutto, cream, and lemon zest."  And thus you should have a delicious pasta dish.  The end.  Anyway, I've tackled this recipe for you, writing out my ingredients and amounts of each and it turned out amazing.  I was quite impressed with myself and hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.  Make it vegetarian by simply omitting the Prosciutto, however, you will need to add a salty component to the dish as a replacement.

Creamy Leek and Prosciutto Pasta
Inspired by Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best
Serves 6

12 oz pasta (I used the Ronzoni Garden Delight Penne Pasta as it is vegetable-enriched pasta and it's pretty)
3 medium leeks (cleaned and chopped)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup heavy cream
shredded Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 lb good Prosciutto, medium thickness, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 lemon



Bring a large pot of water to a boil to cook the pasta.  Start cooking the pasta just before you add the Prosciutto (see instructions below).

Heat a large pan on medium-high heat and add the olive oil. when the oil is hot add the chopped leeks and the garlic. Saute until just soft.  Add the Prosciutto and stir.  Continue cooking until the Prosciutto is cooked through, stirring so that the leeks absorb the juices from the Prosciutto.

The pasta should be done by now, so drain well and return the pasta to the pot.  Add the cream and stir well.  Next add the leek/Prosciutto mix and again, stir well, until the pasta is well coated.  Add the zest of the whole lemon and then squeeze the lemon juice into the pot as well.  Add a generous handful of the shredded Parmesan cheese and give a quick stir.  Provide extra Parmesan cheese for serving.  Open a bottle of white wine, pour yourself a glass and enjoy!

Basil Pesto

Alas, here we are in the beginning of July with the debut of a new cookbook from my bookcase.  The one that I have picked for this month is rather new in print and was put together by the Editors and Contributors of Fine Cooking magazine.  It is titled Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best. This will be my second cookbook in a row that is not produced by just one chef, but rather a collection of many (and obviously I'm not complaining). 

I really like this book because it is broken down into the seasons: spring, early summer, late summer, fall, and winter.  Each of these sections describe what fruits and vegetables are generally available during that season as well as providing great information on how to pick, keep fresh, prepare and suggestions on how or when to use the particular produce.  Why do I find this information valuable?  Because I sure didn't pay attention to my mother's kitchen when I was growing up and there doesn't seem to be a class in high school or college that prepares one for such cooking endeavors.  Despite the fact that I'm a married, "middle-aged," home owner with 2.3 kids and a dog, I figure that it's never too late to learn more about food and how to use it to my advantage. 

While the highlights are on the produce, there are many corresponding recipe ideas that reflect the produce of choice.  I emphasize the word ideas because they are just that. For example, under the cherries listing it provides a suggestion of preparing duck breasts with cherry-rosemary pan sauce. There are no instructions on how to actually prepare the suggested dish, just ideas on what else you can do with the featured produce.  I can usually work with an idea or suggestion, however, when my brain really is done for the day I just want to read what to do and not have to think too much about it. That being said, I have also encountered a few problems with the indexing as I was trying to locate a recipe which isn't a huge deal, but I feel that indexes must be very well done for a successful cookbook.

Small glitches aside, the first recipe on the list for me was a simple Basil Pesto.  I absolutely love the smell of fresh basil.  Admittedly, I'm only in the novice stages of how to use it.  I love shredding it onto homemade margarita pizzas, or inside a chicken salad sandwich (on a croissant of course), but I know it has many more uses (or so says the text in this book).  Pesto is actually very versatile and so easy to make.  This was my first time making it as I have always been gifted some by a coworker in the past.  This is a great use to trim down that basil plant that may be growing out of control by now and all the other ingredients are relatively straight forward as well.  Again, pesto can be tailored to meet your tasting needs so experiment with the quantities until you are satisfied.

Basil Pesto
Adapted from Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season's Best
Makes approximately 1 1/2 cups

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups packed basil leaves
1/4 cup ice water
1 to 2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1/2 cups pine nuts
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (I used a Parmigiano-Romano combo)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Bring 2 quarts of water seasoned with 1 tablespoon of the salt to a rolling boil.  Meanwhile, set up an ice bath by combining ice and water in a medium bowl. 

Put the basil in the boiling water, pressing it gently under the water, and cook for just 2 or 3 seconds.  Quickly remove the basil from the water (a strainer works well here) and plunge it immediately into the ice bath to stop the cooking process.  Let cool completely for 2 minutes.

Remove the basil from the ice bath, shaking off the excess water, and place it into a food processor (or blender).  Add the garlic, pine nuts, cheese, the remaining salt, and the pepper.  Blend until the basil is coarsely pureed, scarping down the sides and adding more water to facilitate blinding only if needed.  Be patient; don't add more water if it isn't necessary.  With the food processor/blender running, add the oil in a steady stream until the pesto looks creamy and emulsified. Taste and season to taste.  Cover and store in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer for up to a few months. (adding a thin layer of olive oil on top when the pesto is in the container helps preserve it for longer in the fridge)

Ideas for serving:
Mix with pasta, serve on toasted bread, add a thin layer to sandwiches, or a small dab to a tossed salad.
Do you have other great ideas?  PLEASE post them to share :)

Chicken and Hummus Wraps

I know, I know... It's a new month so I should be featuring a new cookbook. However, I couldn't help myself squeezing in one more recipe from Easy Everyday because this recipe could very well be titled "Leftover Delite." I was flipping through the book one last time when I came across this recipe and realized that I had everything on the ingredient list, and they were all leftovers from a previous meal. How silly would I be not to utilize a bunch of leftover items to make something new and tasty for dinner on a hot summer day? In fact, it's almost ridiculous that I had to realize this meal by looking through a cookbook instead of just coming up with it on my own. Alas, by the end of the day my brain is spent and I don't always have enough energy to be creative myself.  In which case, thank goodness for my super secret stash of cookbooks.

Seriously, this is way too easy. If you don't have these as leftover ingredients, I'm sure you at least have them in your kitchen somewhere. If you know you are going to be in a pinch due to a crazy schedule, you can even make these ahead of time to serve later. I usually make my own hummus, however, a brand that I like was recently Buy 1 Get 1 Free, plus I had coupons so I couldn't pass up buying the store brand out of convenience. I even embellished the recipe a bit, adding some chopped tomato and feta to the wrap toppings. If you want to make your own tzatziki sauce to drizzle on top instead of the sweet chili sauce, you can find my recipe here. I served this with a side of couscous mixed with olive oil and chopped green onion.

This can also very easily be made into a vegetarian dish. Simply omit the chicken and throw in some arugula to add some peppery texture. The listed ingredients are good enough on their own, but feel free to get creative. The possibilities are endless.

Chicken and Hummus Wrap
Adapted from Easy Everyday
Serves 2

2 tablespoons hummus
4 small tortillas
1 large grilled chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1/2 small cucumber, cut into thin strips
4 medium romaine/green leafy lettuce leaves, shredded
4 teaspoons chili oil or sweet chili sauce
     (or substitute with tzatziki sauce)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Optional items that I added:
1 small tomato, chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons tzatziki sauce

Spread 1/2 tablespoon of hummus over each tortilla. Put the strips of chicken and cucumber on top of the hummus, then top with the shredded lettuce.
Drizzle each wrap with 1 teaspoon chili oil or sweet chili sauce and season generously. Carefully roll up the tortillas and secure with a toothpick if necessary. Chill the wraps in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat.

Serve with couscous, either room temperature or chilled if it's a hot summer day.

Shrimp Curry

I must pause to inform myself that June is prepared to walk out the front door and not look back, while July is pounding at the back door impatiently waiting to enter. Where does the time go?  As a child, I remember thinking that the days lasted forever.  As an adult, I'm fighting the clock on a daily basis in an attempt of desperation to add a few more house to my day. 

This afternoon, for example, I had a nice long list of items to accomplish before calling it quits for the day.  Of course, that entire list was thrown out the window as soon as I noticed a problem with my refrigerator. First, the freezer seem to have a bit more frost than normal on its inhabitants.  Then I noticed a lot of condensation in the refrigerator, followed by a strange feeling that the food items inside didn't feel cool to the touch like they normally would on a warm summer day.  To confirm my fears, I borrowed a digital thermometer that we use for outdoors and put it inside the fridge and placed the digital readout on my counter top so that I could keep a close eye on it.

Meanwhile, I decided it was best to prepare dinner because if it was determined that there needed to be a fridge/freezer evacuation, I had best beef up my stamina for the hours ahead of me.  So I flipped through my copy of Easy Everyday and found a simple recipe for Shrimp Curry that I just so happened to have all the ingredients for.  Mind you there are a ton of different curry recipes in the world and this has no fancy title to it, but it delivered a full and "bright" (as my husband labeled it) flavor and it was prepared and ready for eating in a very short amount of time--as long as you remember to start cooking the rice first, of course. 

Admittedly, the only ingredient I didn't have was the turmeric and had to omit this from my preparation, but honestly I didn't miss it.  I also opted to leave out the mild red chili as my husband and I have different tolerances for hot and spicy.  I provided crushed red pepper flakes for him to sprinkle on after-the-fact which he enjoyed while I was quite satisfied with my full, bright, not-so-hot & spicy flavor.  This shrimp curry was enjoyed on a bed of steamy jasmine rice with a side of naan and a glass of wine. 

I swear for that every bite of food that I enjoyed, the temperature on the digital readout for the fridge continued upwards.  As it hit the 60 degree Fahrenheit mark, I placed my plate in the sink and began the evacuation procedure, tossing my list of things to do in the drawer to be tackled another day. On a brighter note, I needed to clean out my fridge anyway.  Here's to hoping that as July barges in the back door she doesn't find the need to bring the bill for a new refrigerator with her.

Shrimp Curry
Adapted from Easy Everyday
Serves 4

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 mild red chile, chopped (omitted in my preparation)
1 teaspoon turmeric (omitted in my preparation)
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 lb frozen cooked & peeled shrimp, defrosted
14 oz can of chopped tomatoes
juice of 2 freshly squeezed limes
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
rice, to serve
lime wedges for serving


For the quickest simultaneous preparation, start cooking the rice first.
Heat the oil in a large pan, then add the onion, garlic, ginger, and chile, and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.  Add the turmeric, curry powder, coriander, and cumin and mix well.
Add the shrimp and cook for 3 minutes, stirring well.

Pour in the tomatoes and lime juice, season, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
**At this point, taste the sauce.  If the flavors are there but not to your desired strength, you can add more curry powder, cumin, and coriander (in their respective ratios) without destroying the dish.  I added more of each as I enjoy the bold flavors.

When the desired flavor and consistency are reached, add the cilantro and serve on a bed of rice. 
Last but not last, pour yourself and glass of wine and enjoy.

Steak Continental and Oreo Truffles

I'm afraid I must interrupt my monthly feature of Easy Everyday as I feel the need to pay tribute to a friend that recently passed away.  Steve Nedzel, a friend of mine from college was lost to a tragic accident last week. At only 32 years of age, he was vibrant and enthusiastic about life.  He was the band director at a very prestigious high school, an excellent teacher, musician, mentor, and friend.  When we were in college, he and I always seemed to be cooking for the masses and we exchanged a few recipes even back then.  Today's recipe, Steak Continental, is one of them.  I think this is rather upscale cooking for a college budget, but when you love what you eat you tend to overlook the grocery bill.  This is a great summer grilling meal that I served with a salad and grilled eggplant.  Please note, this recipe has many salty components (which can be used to tenderize a less expensive piece of meat), so if you are using a quality steak or are salt sensitive, consider omitting the 2 teaspoons of salt.

We must also not overlook the dessert that I'm featuring, Oreo Truffles.  Of course when Steve recently gave me the recipe over Facebook he simply called them "Oreo Balls."  These little chocolate balls are delicious and very easy to make.  I admit, baking and dipping are not really my thing, however, these require absolutely no baking and are so easy to make I'd be lazy not to make them more often.  Actually, these are also very kid-friendly as small hands would be perfect to roll out the balls and then dip them in the chocolate.

Alas, thank you Steve for all the recipes, great times, and memories and I will surely miss your daily entertaining anecdotes on Facebook.

Steak Continental
As Steve Nedzel wrote it for me

1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon kettsup
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried whole oregano
3 pounds sirloin steak

Mash garlic and salt together then add the next 5 ingredients, mixing well.

Score steak 1/4 inch deep on both sides and rub in the garlic mixture.  Place steak in a large shallow dish,
cover and refrigerate 8 hours. (I only refrigerated for 2 hours and it was still flavorful)

Grill over medium coals 15 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

Oreo Truffles
makes approximately 24 1-inch balls


1 package of Oreos
8 oz (1 package) of cream cheese
good quality melting chocolate for dipping (I used dark chocolate)


Take 1 package of Oreos and crush them in a food processor or in a bag with a rolling pin.  Mix the cookie crumbs with 8 oz. of softened cream cheese.

Chill in the fridge or freezer for a bit, then roll them into 1-inch balls.
Dip them into the melted chocolate of your choice.

Chill and serve.

Thai Meatballs

I must admit, my food pictures have been pretty embarrassing since I started posting.  The truth of the matter is that I've been taking the pictures with my phone (the modern marvels of technology) because my camera has been missing.  I know that I was the last to use it, however, it wasn't where I left it when I went back for it.  Officially misplaced for 8 days now, I decided to think like a two-year-old and really start looking for it.  Long story short, I did find it this evening in the kids' art drawer next to the couch.  The camera was in front of the art drawer when I put it down.  I'm sure little hands were simply helping me tiddy up and neglected to mention where they put it. 

Moving on, it never fails that I plan meals that utilize the oven when the weather is hot and humid, and grilling days always seem to be cold and rainy.  Nevertheless, I stuck to the plan today and made some thai meatballs.  These little tasty treats came together in 10 minutes and baked in the oven for only 25 minutes.  Luckily, I remembered to start the rice cooker as I preheated the oven so in all, dinner was ready in 40 minutes.  This recipe can be made with either ground chicken or ground turkey.  I used turkey only because I don't generally keep ground chicken in the house and I also made my own sweet chili sauce because I only had chili paste in the fridge. (Please note that you cannot substitute one for the other.)  Honey mustard is another nice dipping option and was preferred by the kids.  These made for a tasty, light summer dinner as I served them on a small bed of jasmine rice accompanied with a glass of white wine. 

Thai Meatballs
Taken from Easy Everyday
Makes 16 - 18 small meatballs


2 oz. fresh bread crumbs
1 lb ground chicken or turkey
1 egg
2 scallions, very thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
a small handful of cilantro leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon fish sauce or soy sauce
2 teaspoons sweet chili sauce, plus extra for serving
Thai fragrant rice, to serve
large baking dish or cookie sheet, oiled


Preheat the oven to 400 °F.

Put the bread crumbs, chicken or turkey, egg, scallions, ground coriander, cilantro, fish sauce or soy sauce, and chili sauce in a bowl.

Mix well with your hands, then roll the mixture into small balls--use about 1 tablespoon of the mixture for each.

Arrange the meatballs in the prepared baking dish/cookie sheet.  Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes until golden brown and cooked all the way through.

Serve the meatballs straight from the baking dish with some sweet chili sauce for dipping and some Thai fragrant rice on the side.

Zucchini and Tomatoes Baked with Fontina

My husband often will say to me, "I'll cook dinner tonight.  Just leave me a recipe and put all the ingredients out on the counter."  The irony of that to me is the fact that those two statements are what usually makes cooking difficult for most people.  Half the battle is figuring out what you want and if you have all the ingredients on hand to make it. 


I took a commercial cooking class "for fun" last year with the hopes of learning a few new tricks or recipes.  Thankfully I received both, though limited in number.  However, I am still missing something in my culinary desires.  A friend once asked me what I wanted most from a culinary education.  My reply was the ability to literally throw together a bunch of ingredients with the proper herbs and spices and have it be devine.  Don't get me wrong, I love looking through cookbooks, drooling over the pictures, and tagging pages that I want to try out.  But let's face it, cooking requires planning and sometimes we just don't have the time that we want to devote to it.  I'm getting better at throwing together an unplanned meal, but I'm not where I want to be yet. 


Which leads me to my next point: food pairing.  Does it really matter if you found the perfect recipe for baked halibut if you can't figure out the proper side dish to serve with it?  Food pairing is my second most difficult challange aside of an unplanned entree.  Cookbooks are often divided into sections: Appetizers, Soups, Salads, Fish, Poutry, Beef, Vegetarian, etc.  This is great for finding that entree but leaves you to your own devices to put together a meal.  Once in a while I find a cookbook that does a decent job at cross-referencing food, meaning that they will list appropriate side dish options with the recipes included in the same book.  I love that and wish more authors would consider that option.  That is what I really like about the food blog Dinner du Jour.  Recipes are presented as meals, sometimes even with a dessert pairing.


I worked backwards for today's Easy Everyday recipe. I selected a vegetable side dish and then racked my brain for an entree to accompany it.  This is another quick and easy summer recipe (are you detecting a theme in my posts yet?) and will be even more popular in my household as the garden bulks up its produce.  I paired this with a homemade reuben sandwich complete with rye bread, saurkraut, and thousand island dressing.  The corned beef cooked in the crock pot all afternoon so that dinner came together in less than 45 minutes at the end of the day.  This recipe originally calls for 3-4 tablespoons dried bread crumbs to be sprinkled on top before baking, but I personally never remember to do it and obviously I don't miss it too much.

Zucchini and Tomatoes Baked with Fontina
Adapted from Easy Everyday
Serves 6

6 medium zucchini
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons of good quality olive oil, plus extra for sprinkling
~30 cherry tomatoes, halved
8 oz. fontina cheese, sliced (you can substitute with any salty, melting cheese)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
shallow ovenproof dish, greased


Preheat the oven to 325 °F.


Halve the zucchini lengthwise and trim a little off the uncut sides so that they will sit still like boats.  Using a teaspoon, scoop out the soft-seeded centers, but not too much.  Arrange the boats in a row in the prepared dish.


Put the garlic, olive oil, and some seasoning in a bowl, stir well, then brush over the cut surfaces of the zucchini. (I actually used a garlic-infused olive oil for this step)  Arrange the halved tomatoes in the grooves.  Season well, then drizzle with olive oil.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the zucchini is soft when forked.


Remove from the oven and arrange the cheese over the zucchini and tomatoes.  Return the dish to the oven for another 10 minutes to melt the cheese.  Alternatively you could use a broiler setting to brown up the cheese, but be sure to keep your eye on it!  Serve immediately while the cheese is still bubbling.

Macaroni and Cheese with Spinach Bake

Whenever I watch a movie or television program that involves a prisoner on death row ordering their last meal ever, it doesn't take me but 2 seconds to know what I would order (not that I'm planning to be on death row anytime soon). I have a small, guilty (and sometimes embarrassing) pleasure in that I love macaroni and cheese.  I'm sure I've tried them all but in the end I always come back to the blue box that is Kraft (the spiral noodles are my favorite).  I don't even know why.  Sure, it's enriched white pasta with processed powdered cheese but I will eat it without a second thought and defend my bowl to the end when I see my daughters coming towards me with a spoon for a bite.  I've even gone so far as to put in the blender after 3 occasions of oral surgery where I could not chew anything.  (It doesn't look so hot, but if you close your eyes it tastes the same.)

In any case, sometimes I need a grown-up version of mac & cheese to serve when entertaining.  This recipe fits the bill as you can use a whole-grain pasta and the spinach adds a strong nutritional component.  This is another super easy recipe that works well for a crowd.  As long as the kids don't have an aversion to anything green in their food they usually gobble it up without hesitation.

Macaroni and Cheese with Spinach Bake
Taken from Easy Everyday
Serves 4

8 oz. macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
2 cups milk
15 oz cooked spinach, well drained (frozen spinach also works well here)
3 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
large ovenproof dish

Cook the macaroni according to the package instructions.
Preheat the oven to 375 °F.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan, remove from the heat, and mix in the flour to make a roux.  Return to a low heat and slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.

Drain the macaroni and add to the sauce along with the spinach, seasoning, and half the cheese.   Mix well.  Pour the mixture into the ovenproof dish, scatter the remaining cheese on top, and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, until golden.




(I confess that I didn't take this picture.  Sometimes the hunger is too overwhelming for the family that I forget to take my own picture. I have borrowed this photo from the cookbook Easy Everyday. But I swear it looks just like the photo and tastes just as good as it looks!)

Japanese Fresh Corn Soup

I know what you are thinking...soup in summer?!  Absolutely!  As quoted from the book, "This is a variation on a traditional Japanese summer soup, prized for the fresh taste of corn--and very easy to make."  Seeing as how I'm from the Midwest, corn is a specialty around here so a recipe using fresh corn is perfect.  Did I mention that this soup takes all of 15 minutes from prep to service?

Alas, it is still too early in the year to get good local sweet corn.  The weather has been so wishy washy that some of the farmers only got their crops planted last week.  I am also not the type to indulge in the cellophane-wrapped corn that often appears in the grocery store.  I prefer to hand-pick and shuck my own corn so that I can guarantee my family is eating quality local produce.  Who knows where cellophane corn comes from anyway?  That being said, I was forced to use frozen corn this time around but it still tasted amazing.  If it was this good using frozen corn, I can't wait for the fresh corn later this summer.

Japanese Fresh Corn Soup
Adapted from Easy Everyday
Serves 4

4 ears of fresh corn or 2 cups fresh (or frozen) corn kernels
4 cups hot chicken stock
4 egg yolks
4 scallions, sliced diagonally
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
cracked black pepper for serving


Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil.  Add the corn ears and simmer for about 2 minutes.
Drain corn.  Hold the corn upright on a cutting board with the blunt end down.  Run a sharp knife down the cob shaving off the kernels.  Reserve a handful of kernels for serving, blanching them in boiling water for 2 minutes.  Add the remaining kernels to the hot stock.

If using frozen corn, simply bring the chicken stock to a boil and add the frozen kernels.  When the stock returns to a boil and many of the kernels are floating, remove a large spoonful of the kernels with a slotted spoon and reserve them for serving.  Remove from heat. 

From either method above, puree the remainder of the stock and kernels using an immersion blender if you have one, otherwise a blender will suffice.  Press the puree through a fine-mesh sieve into a saucepan.  Repeat process as needed until all the stock and kernels have been pureed and strained into the saucepan.  Reheat the mixture until bubbling and then turn the heat off.

Beat all 4 egg yolks in a mixing bowl and then slowly add them to the hot soup stirring quickly (the hot soup will cook the eggs).  Add in the soy sauce and mix well.  Divide the soup among serving bowls and garnish with the scallions, reserved corn kernels and pepper to taste.

Bread and Butter Pudding

I suppose the irony of this blog is in the title, "Guest Chef in the Kitchen" alluding to the fact that the cookbook that I am featuring has a popular or established chef behind it.  Truth be told, one of my most favorite cookbooks, and the one that is highlighted this month, has no popularity at all.  In fact, there is a single page in the back of the book with a list of credits for each recipe.  For the 19 names that are listed there I do not recognize a single one of them.  Makes no difference to me because the food looks and tastes fantastic!


This first book, Easy Everyday is a true gem and I once spotted it for sale in the Le Creuset store.  I've made many recipes out of this book with not one failure.  I've also shared some of the recipes from this book with another wonderful food blog, Dinner du Jour, highlighting dishes such as Rigatoni with Pork and Lemon Ragu, and Chicken and Bacon Pot.  


Yesterday my mother handed me a bag of stale croissants.  They were the picture-perfect kind with the delicate butter flavor too good to just throw in the compost.  So what do restaurants do with stale bread?  Bread pudding!  So despite the 90 degree weather plaguing the area, I turned on the oven to produce a finished product in less than 40 minutes.  Beautifully-crusted, golden-brown comfort food--enjoyable even in the heat of the summer sun.  (Did I mention that the kids loved it as well!)

Bread and Butter Pudding
adapted from Easy Everyday: Simple Recipes for No-fuss Food
Serves 4


1 1/4 cups milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
6 slices of brioche bread, or 3 large croissants, chopped into bite-sized chunks
1/3 cup golden raisins
freshly ground nutmeg or cinnamon/sugar combo to sprinkle on top
4-6 ramekins (depending on their size), well greased


Preheat oven to 350°F


Put the milk, cream, vanilla extract, and 3 tablespoons of the sugar into a saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves.


Put the eggs into a bowl and beat well.  Stir in 2-4 tablespoons of the hot milk mixture to warm the eggs, then stir in the remainder of the hot milk.  You should have a custard-like mixture.


Lightly toast the bread and divide between the prepared ramekins and sprinkle with the raisins.


Pour in the custard, grate a little nutmeg (or cinnamon/sugar) over the top, then sprinkle with remaining sugar.  Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until firm.  Let cool a little, but serve warm.