Carbfest!

A few weeks ago I ventured to happy hour at BLT Steak with a few of my gal pals. That's when I discovered their popovers. O. M. G. They basically melt in your mouth and have the perfect amount of gruyere cheese sprinkled on top. I very easily could have eaten about 6 of them....if I wanted to be rolled out of there. I decided to purchase a popover pan and give this recipe a whirl.

SO, in order to be in carb heaven you will need:

Ingredients


4 c. milk, warmed

8 eggs

4 c. flour

1 ½ heaping tbsp. salt

2 ¼ c. grated Gruyere
 
and PS- I don't know what kinda popover pan their using but it says it serves 6. My second batch is in the oven and I have enough batter for 2 more batches. Hello, 2 dozen popovers!
 
 
1. Place the popover pan in the oven. Heat the oven and pan to 350º.




2. Gently warm the milk over low heat and set aside. - be careful not to heat too fast or for too long, the milk will burn and then thats no fun now is it?




3. Whisk the eggs until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (so as not to cook the eggs). Set the mixture aside.

4. Sift the flour with the salt. Slowly add this dry mixture to the egg mixture and gently combine until mostly smooth.



5. Remove the popover pan from the oven and spray with nonstick vegetable spray.



6. While the batter is still slightly warm, fill each popover cup three-fourths full. - If you have to make more than one batch, its ok if your batter gets to room temp.



7. Top each popover with approximately 2 ½ tbsps. of the grated cheese. My first batch I went easy on the cheese. Bad choice. Pile it on! And if any of you are familiar with gruyere you will understand what I mean when I say my house currently smells like feet.

I had to put a cookie sheet under my popover pan because of the way its made, not everyone needs to do that. And get ready to be messy. Because the pan is so hot from heating in the oven its hard to get a good grip on it to keep the batter from spilling.


8. Bake at 350º for 50 minutes, rotating pan half a turn after fifteen minutes, until the popovers are golden brown.

My next batch I'll bake a bit longer so they get crispier. Trial and error!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go into carbiac arrest (get it, CARBiac arrest?). Ok I'm done.

Ok I'm not done. Please be sure to check out my other blog (i know i know) http://www.dudsandrags.blogspot.com/

<3

Quick N Easy

 I decided to throw myself back into the sauna, aka my kitchen in the summer, for a little dinner tonight. All I want to eat is salads and fruits since its 100+ out these days. I went with horseradish skirt steak over a bead of mushrooms and greens. And...YUM! I even have some left over for lunch tomorrow, lucky me!

This is what you'll need:

1 lb of skirt steak
1 tbs horseradish
olive oil
2 garlic cloves
4 cups mixed greens
1/2 lb mixed mushrooms ( I did common and portobello)
1 lemon
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbs balsamic vinegar


Combine horseradish, garlic clove and a bit of EVOO in a bowl. (I added a dash of balsamic to this as well) and rub over one side of meat.

Use a grill pan or a real live grill for these, skirt steak is meant to be served medium-rare so they'll need about 10 minutes MAX on the heat.

Chop your mushrooms into chunks or slice them, whatever you fancy.

Start the sautee process about 5 minutes into your meat grilling. Mushrooms don't take too long to cook, and if you cook them too long they begin to be super chewy. When they're finish be sure to dump out the excess liquid before transferring them into the greens because they tend to lose a lot of moisture when cooking.

Take the juice of half a lemon, 1 (or a little less) tablespoon olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar and salt & pepper to season the greens and mushrooms.

When your meat is finished resting (about 5 minutes while covered with foil), slice and serve over top of greens. Simple, right? Right! And so, so good.  I'm making monkey bread tomorrow night while Ryan's working. I hope it lasts longer than 2 days this time ;)...stay tuned for that!

Holy Shit.

Pardon my French, but this is one of the best dinners we've had in a long time. #2 on Ryan's top 5 list of things I've ever made (#1 being this one).

I was thumbing through the latest edition of Sunset mag on my way home from Phoenix earlier in the week and came across a recipe for peach and ginger glazed ribs. Within pages was a recipe for spicy hoisin and sesame corn. What a pair! Ryan finally had a day off so we fired up the grill to test-drive these puppies.

Almost an entire roll of paper towels later (it's a messy one!), we're stuffed. As I'm polishing off my third (stop judging) glass of wine, I figured I'd post this now before a month goes by and I realize I forgot to do it.

Anywho, onto the recipes.

Let's start with the ribs, they take longer.

You will need:

1 tbsp minced garlic

4 tsp minced fresh ginger

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 1/2 lbs baby back ribs- cut into riblets (ask your butcher to do it)

1/2 cup peach preserves

1 1/2 tsp hoisin sauce

2 tsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp halced and sliced red chile

1/2 cup peeled and chopped peaches

1 tbsp chopped green onion

NOW, if you're cooking for 2 or 4, I would suggest cutting this recipe down accordingly. This serves 8. As delicious as they are, I don't know how they do as leftovers, and ribs aren't a super cheap cut of meat. I got 1 1/2 pounds and had only 1 rib leftover, what? We were hungry!

Combine garlic, 1 tbsp ginger and the soy sauce in a large mixing bowl. Toss the ribs in the bowl and let marinate in the fridge for at least one hour. Don't skip this step! If you do, they will be lacking in a lot of amazing flavor.

Make your glaze. Combine the peach preserves, hoisin sauce (available at any major market), vinegar, jalepeno and remaining 1 tspn ginger into a small sauce pan. Before I proceed I have a confession to make. I cheated. I used chile/garlic paste instead of a jalepeno. I'm sorry, it's just so much easier. Everytime I use hot peppers my hands smell of them for days. It's not cute. This is what the jar looks like and it works very well.

Back to the glaze. Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring often. Once it bubbles, remove from heat and set aside. It should look similar to this:

Throw the ribs on a charcoal grill for 25-30 minutes before using the glaze. In the last 10 or so minutes, baste the ribs generously with the glaze, until it bubbles. Sunset was very particular in how long they're supposed to be grilled for but we found our grill was much different. An easy way to tell if they're cooked well is to see how well they pull off the bone. If the meat comes off with some ease, then you're pretty much ready.

During the last 10 minutes that the ribs are on the grill, get your corn ready. You will need:

1/4 cup each hoisin sauce and honey

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp lime juice

8 ears corn, husked and cut in half (once again, adjust accordingly)

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 serrano chile, minced (I cheated again!)

2 green onions, sliced.

Combine hoisin sauce, honey, soy sauce, lime juicy and chile paste, if that's what you use. If you use the serrano, wait til the end to use it.

Put the corn on the grill with the ribs, baste with the glaze and turn often.

When your ribs and corn are done, remove from heat. Use chopped peaches, remainder of rib glaze and green onions to coat ribs. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and green onions on corn.

I served this with "sticky rice" (sushi rice with a little rice vinegar). Which compliments it perfectly. We all need a little starch in our diet! This is a must try, people. Even if you don't have a grill, this will work fine in the oven. Trust me,  you won't be sorry. Have napkins on stand-by.

Surf N Turf...Sorta.

The same day I made the pretty popsicles I decided to make this grilled veggie salad I had been eyeing. The picture was so inviting it made me want to lick the page (is that weird?). I tend to get so excited about side dishes that I forget about what the "main" dish should be. So here I am, chopping summer squash and I remember that I hadn't gotten very far in my dinner plans, because I only thought one dish through. So I yell to Ryan "CHICKEN OR SHRIMP!?" (tid-bit: I actually call it scrimp. My friend Randy started it and it stuck. One time I even asked the butcher for a pound of scrimp. Oops). Anyway, he said he'd like both. So I decided it was maybe kind of like surf n turf. I know the "turf" is usually steak but chickens hang out on turf too right? Right.

So Sundays menu was:
Lemon pepper shrimp and chicken
Orzo pasta
Grilled veggie salad.


Lets go over the salad:

You'll need:

1 small fennel bulb

1 orange bell pepper

1 red onion (I used half of one)

1 zucchini

1 yellow summer squash (I used 2 small ones)

1/4 cup EVOO...trust me you don't need that much

3 tbs red wine vinegar...I used balsamic instead

1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes

1/2 cup crumbled feta

3 tbs loosely packed thinly sliced fresh basil

Slice all vegetables so they are grillable. Typically length-wise. Cut the stalks off the fennel bulb and save a handful of the fronds from the stalks and set aside. Cut the fennel bulb lengthwise and try to trim away most 

of the core.

 

Prepare a gas grill OR your grill pan. Grill in batches. Only flip once, be sure not to over cook. Fennel should take about 12 minutes. 10 minutes for the pepper and 6 minutes for the onion and squash.

Grill marks are my fav. I think it makes everything look prettier. Once the vegetables are cool enough to be handled, cut them all into cubes. Throw all veggies into a bowl. Combine remainder of olive oil and either balsamic or red wine vinegar. Toss in feta cheese, tomatoes, basil and fennel fronds.

So, it is a goal in life to get my version of things to look like the picture...so, what do you think?

This would be delicious with grilled pork or steak as well. Or even tofu!

We All Scream For....Popsicles?!

So, those of you who live in Phoenix or Los Angeles should be fully aware that it's an oven outside. Hot breeze? You never get used to it. Our apartment is on the 2nd floor and half the time I swear its cooler outside than it is inside. Specifically on Saturday afternoon when the techno master living in the complex behind us was playing Alice DJ and the like starting at 8am. Yes, 8am. It's really hard to keep windows and doors open when "do you think you're better off aloooooneeee" is screaching through our backyard and into our house. (I called the cops on him at 5pm because he WOULDN'T give it up). Anywho, the only things I want to eat during these months are fruit and salad. Pasta just doesn't sound good when you're sweating in places you never thought were possible.

On Sunday I made triple-berry popsicles. They are super easy, and even more delicious. The hardest part is, being patient enough for them to freeze. I did things a little differently than the recipe, I don't have a blender (I know, or a mixer) so I boiled the fruit down instead.

SO you will need:

One container raspberries

One container blueberries

One container strawberries

*you can really use any combo berries you'd like. Even pitted cherries!

1 cup simple syrup

Juice from one lemon

Combine 2/3 cup sugar and 2/3 cup water into a sauce pan. Or do what I do, and put however much you feel like into there. I really need to work on my measurements. Bring mixture to a boil, and take off heat once sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

Combine all fruit into a bowl. If you decide to use strawberries be sure to cut off the tops. Obviously. If you're using a blender go ahead and put the mixture into a blender and puree for about 30 seconds then add lemon juice and simple syrup. If you're doing what I did, pour all fruit contents into the same sauce pan you made the simple syrup. (Keep the syrup in the bottom and fold into the berries).

Juice lemon into pan. Let simmer for about 10 minutes until the berries are much softer and the mixture is not as thick. Stir mixture a couple of times to break down the fruit a little more. Remove from heat.

I had to use dixie cups for my molds instead of a super cool tupperware popsicle one. I was HEARTBROKEN when I went to the store and they didn't have any. Oh well, I made do.

These puppies need to freeze for about 3 hours BEFORE you put the popsicle sticks in them. After that, they should freeze for about 3 more then they're ready to eat!

Isn't it pretty? It was so good, that I managed to get the juice all over my white shirt. Way to go, Cobley.

Grill Master.

We had a little BBQ get together last week and had quite a full grill.

We made:

Dill Roasted Potatoes
Grilled Peppers, Squash and Zuccini
Orzo Salad with Olives, Tomatoes and Feta
Italian Marinated Chicken

I'm not going to post recipes- most of it's pretty self explanitory but here's a picture or two. Ryan was head of the grill for the whole night and did the best job in the whole wide world.

Birthday apple tart for Andy.

Best summer dessert! Courtesy of our lovely neighbor Lauren.

Yay for summer dresses and BBQ's.

Oh, and yay for my hair finally being the color red that I want!

Cookies For Days.

Look at me! 3 posts in under a week?! I'm on a roll!! Woooooooooooooo Hoooooooooo! Anyway, it's getting to be that time again in Southern California where a bathing suit is really the only suitable (yes I did that on purpose) thingto wear for 3 months. All I ever want to eat in the summer is fruit. Its so hot out that anything more than that sounds gross. I wanted to try a light-weight fluffy and fruity kind of cookie that isn't too heavy or buttery like my usual shortbread. I found a recipe for orange zest cookies- afterall citrus is my favorite. WARNING: This particular recipe yields a loooooooooooot of cookies (seriously).

You will need:

2 cups white sugar


1 cup shortening (I used butter)

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

2 tablespoons grated orange zest
 
 
 
Combine sugar with your butter (or shortening if you choose) in a LARGE - trust me, I had to swap out mixing bowls half way through- bowl.
 

I had to get down n dirty (not literally, my hands were clean!) and use my hands for a lot of this recipe because i coughstilldonthaveamixercough and a wooden spoon wasn't cuttin it.
 

Add 2 eggs, vanilla, orange juice and zest.

Add your sour cream. Let me tell you, the sour cream makes ALL the difference when it comes to these guys, it makes them super light weight and delish!

Set mixture aside. Combine baking powder, soda and your 5 (YES 5) cups of flour. Sift through and add to wet mixture slowly. \

Just a quick peek at the GIANT mess I made in my kitchen today from doing this. My poor computer (thats where the recipe was and you cant see all the flour on the ground)

Grease up as many cooking sheets as you have and use a teaspoon to drop the dough onto the sheet. Bake at 375 or until golden on bottom. I found myself cooking them for more like 12-13 minutes.
 
 

Remember my Olive? I brought in a diner chair so she could see better. She sat there the whole time, even with dough and various objects flying through the air.

Once the cookies are cooled, you can frost them. For the frosting you'll need.
 

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
 
* If I were you I would double that recipe, I ran out.**
 
Combine everything together until it is "spreadable".
 

And frost away! You will have lots and lots of cookies, about 6 dozen to be exact.
 

I wasnt jokin!