Easier Than You'd Think

My mom has a lot of great stories about her time in nurses training school.  She was there in the late (very late) 1950's and it was definitely a different era.  From what I can tell, women smoked and drank a lot then, had a really good time with their girlfriends and broke a lot of rules... oh wait- that may not be so different.

Well, one thing that was different is that a required part of her nurse training included a "nutrition" course.  I put that in quotes because they had a hellofa different view of what "nutrition" meant.  Mom did not excel at the "Nutrition" course because it was really a basic cooking course that included some odd skill-sets and my mom would rather be out swimming, camping or partying with her girlfriends than trapped behind a stove.  I would have LOVED this part of her training.
It turns out -- they taught her how to make souffles.  Seriously.  Souffles were essential to good nursing (remind me some time to tell you her story of how they cooked a whole chicken in an autoclave-- yep-- that's the machine they used to sterilize surgical tools, and blow up their dinners.  that's right. she blew up a chicken)
Anyhow- back to the souffle:

 Are souffles great nutrition??  Probably not.
But, because of this experience, when I decided I wanted to make souffles, but was concerned they'd be too challenging, my mom was quick to tell me that they would NOT be a problem for me.  She thought it was completely within my cooking abilities.
 But I had been led to believe from a variety of 1970's & 80's sitcoms and movies that souffles were very complicated and would "fall" really easily.
Well, television has told me many lies, but this is among the biggest and my mother was right.
A souffle is easier than you'd think.
I made these chocolate ones for Scott's Birthday last week- and they were truly the most delicious dessert I've ever made.  So tasty, light, fantastic texture, truly chocolaty flavor-- this is my new favorite thing.

delicious beyond measure

I am not a huge fan of Emeril, but i love his Chocolate Souffles:

Ingredients

• 3 teaspoons butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 6 large egg whites
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup Grand Marnier

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter 6 individual ramekins. Sprinkle each ramekin with 1 teaspoon sugar. In a large metal bowl, set over a pot of simmering water, melt the chocolate, whisking it occasionally. Remove the bowl from the heat. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites with 1/4 cup of the sugar until stiff and glossy. Whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate one at a time, add the Grand Marnier, and whisk in the remaining sugar. Fold in the egg whites and blend until smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared ramekins. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake until they are puffed and somewhat firm, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve with the chocolate sauce listed below--and powdered sugar if you want it...

Chocolate Sauce:

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup half-and-half
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 pound semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine the half-and-half and butter in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Heat the mixture until a thin paper-like skin appears on the top. Do not boil. Add the chocolate and vanilla and stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool or don't-- just dump it on whatever you love... it's soooo good!!!

Anyhow- hope you get a chance to make these- they are wonderful, and let me repeat,  EASY!

Apple Crisp ala Scottie

So, we picked apples off of the apple tree in my mom's backyard.  It's completely loaded with apples and looks really beautiful.  We weren't sure that the apples would really be any good for a number of reasons, one of which is that there are lots of worms and bugs because we don't really do anything with the tree. Every couple of years a beloved friend comes and trims it (he knows about fruit trees) and then we get to watch it be pretty for a few more years.  But this was our first time successfully getting some apples that could be used for something.  So we thought about a pie, but Scott is not a pie fan with the exception of Tyler Florence's Ultimate caramel apple pie, which takes a TON of time (and we were too lazy and tired to do that).  He can live with a crisp (I don't get it, really, it's beyond me, but that's what he can live with).
So we made a little apple crisp. Turns out that I didn't miss having pie.

Here's our version of apple crisp:

Preheat oven to 350
grease a 9x14 inch baking dish

Mix together
8 or so apples peeled and sliced
1 cup of raisins (we like golden raisins)
1/3 cup of sugar
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
and the juice of 1 lime (or lemon- we like limes and they are just meant to keep the apples from turning brown)

for the topping:
again mix together
1&1/2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal (quick cooking)
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Cut in 1/2 lb of butter until butter is "pea sized" and mixed throughout...

Pour apples into baking dish and sprinkle the topping across the top.  Bake at 350 for an hour or so, until the topping is a golden brown and apples are soft and bubbling.
We enjoyed ours with some premium vanilla bean ice cream.  Warm apple crisp + cold ice cream= happy.  Great way to end a full and fun weekend.

The Mighty Brownie: King of Chocolate Baked Goods

So, you have heard me express my feelings about chocolate cake....harrumphhh.....  

But the brownie. Well it's the  KING of chocolate baked things.

 It is always perfection.

The best brownies ever are actually Courtney Harvey's brownies.  They involve almost no flour, 2 Cups of sugar and close to nine eggs I believe.  I tried to find a recipe like that-- but ended up with one that had 5 eggs and 2/3 cup flour ... still 2 cups of sugar tho!
So, these are not as good as Harvey's - but they are still mighty good and well worth the effort (until we wrestle that recipe out of her.)

I found the base for this on Epicurious, but couldn't help adapting it -- so here's my version:

2 sticks unsalted butter
8 Oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (no more than 60% cocao if marked)
2 Cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2-3 teaspoons instant espresso pwder mixed with 1 tablespoon hot water
5 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa pwdr  (I mixed Hershey's dark which is a dutch-process pwder with regular cocoa pwder  
                about half and half).
1/2 teaspoon salt

4 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate chips if desired.

Preheat oven to 350˚. Butter and flour a 13x9 inch pan.

Melt butter and chocolate in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring, until smooth.  Remove from heat and cool to luke warm.  Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and espresso.  (this does NOT make the brownies taste like mocha or coffee, it simply brings out more of the chocolate flavor... really!)
Whisk in eggs, 1 at a time, until mixture is glossy and smooth.

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt, then whisk into chocolate mixture until combined.
sprinkle semi-sweet chips across the top if you just want even more chocolate in your chocolate.

Spread in pan and bake until a pick inserted in center comes out with crumbs, 25-35 minutes.  Don't over bake! This is what ruins a good brownie in my opinion... really, just check it and catch it when you just think they are starting to "set".
 Cool completely. Enjoy immensely.

Isaac agrees with the recipe and says "you should wait until they cool, so that they aren't too mushy."
 I on the other hand say... bring on the ice cream right now!
:)

Fruit Crisp = heaven

So, we've moved. We've got a great kitchen, and we've finally had a chance to start cooking in it.  And so far it's been a lot of fun.  One drawback is that we haven't yet replaced all of our spices and baking type things (I hadn't been able to bake since last summer) and so.. we didn't have everything on had that I wanted and needed to make dessert.  So - on Monday night -- I decided to make something with what he had on hand.  We had cherries, lemons and cinnamon (this allowed me to make a delicious cherry sauce) that i thought I would pour on some shortcakes, cause we had biscquick on hand.  BUT, we didn't have time then at the end of the night to make the shortcakes.  So - on Tuesday I went out and picked up flour which allowed me to make a crisp with the cherries and the other fruit we had to use up from the fridge.  It turned out great and was something I never would have made if it hadn't worked out in this weird, awkward, and wonderful way.  Here's what I did if you ever want a little taste of heaven...

Fruit Crisp:
2-3 peaches peeled, pitted and cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup of blueberries
cherry sauce (see recipe below)

1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

vanilla ice cream as an accompaniment if desired

Spread peaches and blueberries evenly in the bottom of a buttered 8-inch-square pan.  Pour cherry sauce over the top. In another bowl blend the brown sugar, the flour, the oats, the salt, the cinnamon, and the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture evenly over the fruite and bake the dessert in the middle of a preheated 375°F. oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until it is crisp. (For a crisper topping, after baking the crisp broil it under a preheated broiler for 2 minutes.) Serve the crisp warm with the vanilla ice cream.

Cherry Sauce:
2-3 Cups of Cherries, pitted
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup red wine
juice of 1/2 half a lemon
3 tablespoons of sugar (or less, if cherries are very sweet)
cinnamon to taste

Simmer cherries over medium high heat with all of the other ingredients for at least 20 minutes, or until the liquid reduces and cherries are soft.

So-- the cherries on their own, delicious, but with some peaches and blueberries- heaven....there were no pictures to be had-- cause we inhaled it!!!

Tiramisu at Home

So, since we were already trying a few lovely lemon recipes for the Friendship Feast blog (more about those some other time), I decided we should make dessert as well.  Since I don't currently have an oven (my husband is being a complete and total PIA on this one, and so that plus my stubborn streak = No Oven for me!) I had to find something to make that was oven free.  Tiramisu seemed like a great choice-- and oh was it ever.   Here's the recipe... we couldn't even wait for it to finish setting, so ours was still a little runny, but completely delicious. And yes, we gave it the kids even though it had raw egg and kahlua.  They are hardy little people, and the risk seems minute.  I also hoped the Kahlua might make them sleepy, but Scott noted, two tablespoons of Kahlua doesn't put very much in a single serving, as opposed to the SUGAR and TWO CUPS of Coffee... duh.  :-)

Adapted from a Recipe from Gourmet Magazine- March 2003

            3 large eggs, separated

            3/4 cup sugar

            1 (8-oz) container mascarpone cheese (1 scant cup)

            1/2 cup chilled heavy cream

            2 cups very strong brewed coffee or brewed espresso, cooled to room temperature

            2 tablespoons sweet Marsala wine

            18 savoiardi (crisp Italian ladyfingers, 6 oz)

            1/4 cup fine-quality bittersweet chocolate shavings (not unsweetened; made with a vegetable peeler) or 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

            3 large eggs, separated

            3/4 cup sugar

            1 (8-oz) container mascarpone cheese (1 scant cup)

            1/2 cup chilled heavy cream

            2 cups very strong brewed coffee (I used a swiss chocolate almond flavored coffee that is just fantastic) cooled to room temperature

            3 tablespoons Kahlua

            18 savoiardi (crisp Italian ladyfingers, 6 oz)

            1/4 cup fine-quality bittersweet chocolate shavings (not unsweetened; made with a vegetable peeler) or 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Beat together yolks and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Beat in mascarpone until just combined.

Beat whites with a pinch of salt in another bowl with cleaned beaters until they just hold soft peaks. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time, beating, then continue to beat whites until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat cream in another bowl with cleaned beaters until it just holds soft peaks. Fold cream into mascarpone mixture gently but thoroughly, then fold in whites.

Stir together coffee and Kahlua in a shallow bowl. Dip 1 ladyfinger in coffee mixture, soaking it about 4 seconds on each side, and transfer to an 8-inch glass baking dish (2-quart capacity). Repeat with 8 more ladyfingers and arrange in bottom of dish, trimming as needed to fit snugly. Spread half of mascarpone mixture evenly over ladyfingers. Make another layer in same manner with remaining ladyfingers and mascarpone mixture. Chill tiramisu, covered, at least 6 hours.

Just before serving, sprinkle with chocolate.

Cooks' notes:

• The eggs in this recipe are not cooked, which may be of concern if there is a problem with salmonella in your area. • Tiramisu can be chilled up to 1 day