A Citrus Twist

Last night roast chicken was on the menu. As I was looking around the house I noticed that we had a bunch of oranges/clementines on their last legs. So I decided to use them through out the dinner, and ended up with a very tasty concoction!

Roast Chicken

1 roasting chicken
2 onions cut into four pieces
2 cloves of garlic smashed
A total of 4 Tbsp minced ginger root
zest from 2 clementines
juice from 4 clementines
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp butter
salt/pepper

Take one onion, garlic and 2 Tbsp of ginger root and lay them in the bottom of the roasting pan.
Combine zest, juice and honey in a bowl and set aside. Slide the 2 Tbsp of butter under the skin of the chicken.
Rub zest, juice and honey mixture onto the chicken, sprinkle top with salt and pepper. Place chicken in pan and roast according to directions for your size chicken
(just a note, because of the honey the skin will look "burned" before the chicken is ready, don't worry, and just continue cooking until the chicken is done)

We still had more oranges left, so I decided to use some memories of my childhood to make a wonderful carrot dish. My mom got a recipe from my grandmother that included orange carrots, so I just kinda updated it!

Orange/Ginger Carrots

Juice and zest two oranges. Dice up about 1 Tbsp ginger root. Place in bottom of steamer. Add water to fill to proper level. Places baby carrots in pan and steam on medium heat for 45 minutes, or until tender.

To finish off the dinner I used one of my favorite Barefoot Contessa recipes for Cornbread Stuffing. I had leftover cornbread from the other night when we had chili, so it was perfect!

1 onion, diced
1 stick of butter
3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
5 cups crumbled cornbread

Melt butter in large pot, add onion and cook for about 8 minutes, until onion is soft. Add celery, parsley, broth and cornbread. Mix until bread is moistened. Put in shallow baking dish and bake until heated through. ( I just put it in beside the chicken, and it works really well. It takes about 30-40 minutes to heat through)



It was a really great dinner, with alot of flavor!

My First Reveiw

As you know this blog has been all about my cooking so far. But this post is going to be a bit different.
Last night Andrew took my out for my birthday. Usually when we go out we go for sushi, but I wanted something different for my birthday. After exhaustive research I decided we should try, "Victoria's Gastro Pub" in Columbia, MD. The main reason for this decision.....they serve french fries fried in duck fat!
When we arrived I was surprised to see how busy they were for a Sunday night. Even so, we were seated at our table with in 10 minutes, which was the time the hostess gave us for the wait.
I immediately liked the decor. We were surrounded by dark wood and burgandy walls. The lighting fixtures reminded me of what you would expect to see in a castle, they were made of iron and had "pillar candles" surrounding the bulbs.
After looking over the wine list I decided on a Malbac. The description they provided was perfect for the wine. It was very drinkable and had a nice body to it.
We ordered to appetizers to start with , the duck fat fries and their meat platter.
The food arrived...and oh my goodness! They fries were everything we wanted them to be. The duck fat provided a gaminess that went perfectly with the earthiness of the potatoes. The aioli that came with them cut the richness of the dish quite nicely. They were 7.00 and totally worth every cent.
The meat plate had smoked duck, a patte' as well as a homemade prosciutto. To accompany the meat there was a wonderful grainy mustard that you could tell was made in house. There was also homemade bread and butter pickles, which Andrew and I "fought" over. Olives and grilled baguette were also included.
After we finished those we decided that we were too full to eat another thing! We ended our meal with coffee. Andrew had a cappuccino, while I decided to live a little and had what they called "Toffee Coffee". It was a wonderful concoction of coffee, hot chocolate, Kahlua and Bailey's topped with a healthy serving of real whipped cream.
It really was a wonderful experience, from the atmosphere, to the service, to the food, Victoria's Gastro Pub lived up to our expectations. Next time we hope to save some room to try some of the entrees.....

Ultimate Comfort

I spent a portion of the wee hours on Saturday morning in the ER with my son and the attack of the croup.
When I got home I was still riding high on adrenalin and caffeine so I decided to put together our dinner then, so all I had to do later was warm it up.
I decided to do stuffed shells. I didn't have the frozen spinach that I thought I had so I used some of my leftover spanakopita filling along with caramelized onions and ricotta cheese for the filling. For the sauce I sauteed some onions, garlic, carrots and celery. Then I added a jar of roasted red peppers, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. I let it simmer for about 30 minutes and then used my immersion blender to blend it all together. Topped with mozzarella cheese it was a wonderful comforting dinner.
I have been looking for an Italian bread recipe that has a very crusty crust with a wonderful chewy inside. I found one online and it was wonderful. Check out "cooklikeyourgrandmother.com". I plan on trying some other recipes I found on there really soon!
For dessert I made a lemon glazed pound cake. I used a recipe from my favorite baking cookbook "The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion". I would be lost without this book. Here is the recipe:
14 TBS butter
3 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
5 eggs

Glaze
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a bundt style pan.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese until soft and fluffy. Add salt, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, lemon and flour and beat for 5 minutes, batter will be stiff.
Add 1 egg beating until well combined. Continue to add the eggs, one at a time beating well and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition.
When done the batter will be very fluffy. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake the cake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Just before the cake is done, combine the lemon juice and sugar and heat over low heat until the sugar had dissolved, don't let the mixture boil.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Turn it out onto a wire rack or serving platter. Poke the top all over with a cake tester or toothpick and gradually drizzle the glaze over it, pausing occasionally to let it sink in. Let the cake cool for several hours before slicing.


Overall it was a wonderfully comforting dinner...and very delicious too!

The Magic of Leftovers

Because of a "lovely" stomach virus, not alot of people in our family were up to eating as much as they would like to on Christmas Eve. The result: lots of leftovers!!!
So last night I got creative with dinner with a very yummy outcome! The menu last night was porkchops and potatoes. Kinda boring right?
Well, I used the leftovers of my goat cheese crostini to make a really yummy dinner.

Take 1 1/2 cups of balsamic vinegar. Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to medium low, reduce by half. Add 1/2 cup of brown sugar and the left over cherry relish (recipe for the relish is in the previous post). Continue cooking until the mixture becomes syrupy. Then set aside.
Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Sear each side on high heat and then move to a 250 degree oven till cooked thru. At least 160 degrees.
To serve, top with the balsamic reduction.

To use the rest of the goat cheese, I simply cooked up some hashbrowns with onions, and then sprinkled the goat cheese on top, right before serving. (hint: par cook the potatoes in a dish of water covered in saran wrap for 5 minutes in the microwave before you begin to fry them up)

The tang of the cherry relish works wonderfully with the fattyness of the pork, and the goat cheese adds a wonderful depth of flavor to the hashbrowns.

(I can't include any pictures because I left my camera at my inlaws Christmas day, and haven't gotten it back yet!)

The Final Leg of My Marathon!

It was a crazy day yesterday. I knew I had alot to get done, and even tho I was organized it was still quite a feat!
I didn't do any chocolate bark, but we made and decorated about 45 sugar cookies! It was alot of fun for the kids, and it is amazing how far sprinkles can travel! I used a recipe I found on Foodnetwork.com for the dough, and was really pleased on how it turned out. The dough was easy to work with, and the taste and texture of cookies were just about perfect! I was able to double the recipe very easily!

Sugar Cookies
Ingredients

* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla paste or vanilla extract

Directions

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat the butter and both sugars in another medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the eggs and vanilla mixing until fully incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture, and continue beating just until the dough comes together, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide dough in half, pat into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.

Generously flour a clean work surface. (For a nice, even layer of flour, lightly sift flour over the work surface.) Gently roll chilled dough about 1/4-inch thick. Cut into desired shape using a cookie cutter, working quickly enough so dough remains chilled. If dough gets too soft, refrigerate on a lined baking sheet until firm again, about 30 minutes.

Transfer cut cookies to un-greased baking sheets, leaving about 1-inch between cookies. Refrigerate the formed cookies for at least 30 minutes. Lightly dust off excess flour with a dry pastry brush. (Excess dough can be pressed into a disk, chilled and rerolled.)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Bake the cookies, until the bottoms are golden, about 12 to 15 minutes depending on shape. Cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to transfer to a rack to cool. Decorate as desired and serve. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

In addition to the baking I did alot of prep for our Christmas Eve dinner. This year we decided to start a new tradition of having appetizers for dinner. Our menu includes my spanakopitas, turkey meatballs in a paprika sauce, goat cheese crostini's with a dried cherry relish, shrimp cocktail, and my hubby is making up some sushi rolls.
I won't post the recipe for spanakopitas, it is in a previous post. I have made one change to it, and instead of using bread crumbs, I use ground up Ritz crackers! It adds a wonderful buttery crunch.

My dried cherry relish I found on foodreference.com. I used it for Thanksgiving and it was a big hit.

DRIED CHERRY RELISH
Makes about 2 cups; 12 servings as a relish.


1-1/2 cups dried tart cherries
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon margarine
1 large red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper


In a medium bowl, combine cherries, red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar. Let soak 30 minutes.

Heat butter in a large skillet. Add onion; cook 5 minutes, or until onion is soft. Add sugar; mix well. Cook, stirring occasionally, over low heat 10 minutes.

Add cherries with soaking liquid to onion mixture. Simmer, uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes, or until almost all the liquid is evaporated. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.


I had some fun changing up the recipe for my turkey paprika meatballs. My mom has some diet restrictions, so I changed it up so she would be able to enjoy it!

Turkey Meatballs in Paprika Tomato Sauce

1lb ground turkey, thawed
1 cup cooked white rice
1 carrot minced
about 5 button mushrooms diced
1/2 tsp chinese five spice
salt and pepper
1 egg

Mix ingredients together. Form balls and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Once they are cool you can refrigerate them over night. Before serving put them in a pot with a can of fire roasted tomatoes, add 1 tsp of soy sauce and cook them over low heat for about 45 minutes, till they are heated through. You can serve them on bread, or just by themselves!

Christmas Marathon: Day Three!

It has been a crazy couple of days! No matter how well I plan holiday's love to throw me some curve balls, so even though it is a day late I hope you enjoy the story of the next day of my marathon.
For day three I made chocolate bark and added a mix of dried fruit and almonds. I really enjoyed this one. The fruit was a mix of apples, plums, pears and apricots. To add some crunch I just put some sliced almonds on the top. I think it is actually my favorite of the barks.
For the cookies I made my husbands favorite cookies. Oatmeal cookies with crasins, white chocolate chips and macadamian nuts. The original recipe didn't have the nuts, and they are still wonderful without them, but the nuts add a nice bit of crunch.

Oatmeal Crasin White Chocolate Macadamian Nut Cookies
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 lrg eggs
1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cup four
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 6 oz package of cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips
1/4 cup chopped macadamian nuts

Preheat oven to 375. Using an electric mixer beat butter and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in cranberries and white chocolate.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes approx. 2 1/2 doz cookies

Christmas Marathon: Day Two!

For day two I decided to re-create one of my favorite snacks in chocolate bark form. I love Snyder's Pretzel-Peanut Butter Sandwiches dipped in chocolate. So I pressed broken pretzels, as well as peanut butter chips into my semi-sweet chocolate bark. The result: a wonderfully salty sweet treat!
I tried a new cookie recipe for Mexican Chocolate Shortbread from the Food Network Magazine. It seemed a little dry to me, but I think I just over cooked it. I also tried doubling the recipe instead of making two separate batches and I think that might have affected the outcome. The taste is wonderful tho, and I will be trying this one again!

Mexican Chocolate Shortbread

12 Tblsp unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan
1 1/2 cups flour
3 Tblsp sliced almonds, plus more for topping
6 Tblsp Dutch process cocoa powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tblsp raw sugar

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 inch square baking pan, then line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on all four sides. Pulse the flour, almonds, cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt and cayenne in a food processor until the almonds are finely ground.
Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined (dough will be crumbly). Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan.
Prick the dough all over with a fork, then use a sharp knife to cut into 18 strips. Top with almonds, lightly pressing them in. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 10 minutes.
Bake until the shortbread is slightly puffed and firm, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately retrace the strips with a knife; cool completely in the pan on a rack. Lift up the parchment paper to remove the shortbread from the pan, then separate into bars. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.