Sunday dinners usually consist of some meat feature. What can I say it's how I was raised. Growing up we would almost always have some roasted beast, be it moo, oink or cluck, with a nice potato side (we're Irish). So coming up with Sunday dinner menus I usually follow a similar template.
Every once in a while I do shake it up. Spaghetti with Meatballs and Italian Sausage. Chicken Pot Pie. Everything Jambalaya.
But this week I opted to make one of my weeknight dishes on a Sunday.
Chicken Vegetable Stir Fry.
Since I consider Sunday dinners kind of a special occasion I decided to dress it up a bit with some homemade Egg Rolls.
My husband made them for me once years ago when we were dating, you know back when my husband cooked for me, I kid, I kid. Anyway, he made them and I remember them being pretty tasty so I dusted off my husband's one cookbook and got frying.
They are surprisingly quick to make. The biggest time eater is the chopping and grating needed to get the ingredients prepped. After that is saute, assemble and fry. Delish!
Pork Stuffed Egg Rolls
8 egg roll or won ton wraps
1/2 lb ground pork
1 tsp grated fresh ginger root
2 cloves garlic, minced or put through press
1/2 cup cabbage or bok choy, finely chopped
1/2 carrots, shredded
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup water chestnuts, chopped (optional)
2 TBSP soy sauce
2 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt and sugar to taste
Cook ground pork, ginger and garlic together in a skillet over med/high heat until meat is no longer pink, about 2-3 minutes. Drain fat. Add cabbage/bok choy, carrots, onion and water chestnuts (if using) and cook for a few minutes until veggies are fragrant. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, cornstarch, salt and sugar then add to skillet. Cook and stir for about a minute more then remove from heat and cool slightly before assembling egg rolls.
Use a 1/4 cup of filling for each egg roll. Place the filling diagonally on the wrap. Fold the bottom corner up over the filling, then fold in side corners. Brush the top corner with water and then roll wrap up tightly to close.
To deep fry: Bring canola oil up to 350 degrees. Place 2 or 3 egg rolls in frying basket at a time. Fry in oil for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on a towel lined plate.
To bake: Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place rolls on a baking sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray. Lightly brush the tops of the egg rolls with olive oil and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm with Spicy Mustard or Sweet and Sour dipping sauces.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Bailey's Irish Cream Cake
Since St. Patrick's Day falls during the work week this year I decided to do an early Irish feast with the family this last Sunday.
I made some great stand by's Guiness Beef Stew and my Aunt Cathie's Irish Soda Bread, but I wanted to keep up with my New Year's resolution to try a new recipe weekly so I threw in a traditional Irish dish I'd never made called Colcannon ( a yummy mix of mashed potatoes with sauteed cabbage) and a recipe of my own devising for dessert, Bailey's Irish Cream Cake.
When it comes to desserts, Ireland doesn't have a ton. This isn't to say that the ones they do have aren't delicious, I love a good bowl of fresh berries and cream or a nice freckled scone. But I was looking for something a little richer. Now I don't know about most households, but ours ALWAYS seems to have a bottle of Irish Cream in the cabinet. Either purchased or gifted I can't remember which, but since I was old enough to remember my house has always had a bottle of the milky spirit on hand to offer guests, stiffen a coffee or celebrate a special occasion. It's delicious, but unlike vodka, whiskey or gin which can be mixed and matched, Bailey's is kind of a one trick pony.
So I started thinking, how about making a dessert with it.
I found a few recipes for mousses and puddings, but I didn't have any cream in the house and didn't want to make a special trip out to the store for just one ingredient when I had everything else under the sun.
Then I found a few recipes for cake, but they either started with boxed cake mix that I didn't have on hand (see above reason for elimination) or they were made with chocolate, which I gave up for Lent. Some may say what's the point of sacrifice if you aren't tempted and that's all well and good until you have to make said temptation from scratch. So for purely selfish reasons I ruled out the chocolate. But reading through all these different recipes got me thinking, "Why don't I just create my own Bailey's cake recipe?"
So I did.
I took a recipe I had for a very tasty Yellow Cake and did some modifying and this is what I came up with. It's quick and easy to make and while St. Patrick's Day is a great time to enjoy some Irish spirits, this cream cake can be great any time of the year. Enjoy!
Bailey's Irish Cream Cake
Makes 1 two layer 9" round cake
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour, sifted
4 tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 Bailey's Irish Cream
Preheat oven to 350.
Butter and flour two 9" round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
In medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt then set aside. Combine milk and Bailey's in measuring cup and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until lightened. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the mixing bowl occasionally.
Alternately add flour and milk mixture to cake batter, ending with flour.
Divide batter between cake pans and smooth our tops with spatula. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown and the cake tester comes out with moist crumbs. Transfer cakes to wire racks to cool. After 15 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the pans and then turn the cakes out onto the racks to finish cooling then frost.
Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted sweet cream butter
1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
5 cups powdered sugar
splash of milk
In a mixing bowl combine butter and Bailey's a cream until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, scraping down the bowl occasionally. Check the consistency of the frosting to make sure it is spreadable, add a splash of milk to loosen things up if it's too dry. Alternately, add more powdered sugar if the frosting seems too loose. Frost cake and serve.
I made some great stand by's Guiness Beef Stew and my Aunt Cathie's Irish Soda Bread, but I wanted to keep up with my New Year's resolution to try a new recipe weekly so I threw in a traditional Irish dish I'd never made called Colcannon ( a yummy mix of mashed potatoes with sauteed cabbage) and a recipe of my own devising for dessert, Bailey's Irish Cream Cake.
When it comes to desserts, Ireland doesn't have a ton. This isn't to say that the ones they do have aren't delicious, I love a good bowl of fresh berries and cream or a nice freckled scone. But I was looking for something a little richer. Now I don't know about most households, but ours ALWAYS seems to have a bottle of Irish Cream in the cabinet. Either purchased or gifted I can't remember which, but since I was old enough to remember my house has always had a bottle of the milky spirit on hand to offer guests, stiffen a coffee or celebrate a special occasion. It's delicious, but unlike vodka, whiskey or gin which can be mixed and matched, Bailey's is kind of a one trick pony.
So I started thinking, how about making a dessert with it.
I found a few recipes for mousses and puddings, but I didn't have any cream in the house and didn't want to make a special trip out to the store for just one ingredient when I had everything else under the sun.
Then I found a few recipes for cake, but they either started with boxed cake mix that I didn't have on hand (see above reason for elimination) or they were made with chocolate, which I gave up for Lent. Some may say what's the point of sacrifice if you aren't tempted and that's all well and good until you have to make said temptation from scratch. So for purely selfish reasons I ruled out the chocolate. But reading through all these different recipes got me thinking, "Why don't I just create my own Bailey's cake recipe?"
So I did.
I took a recipe I had for a very tasty Yellow Cake and did some modifying and this is what I came up with. It's quick and easy to make and while St. Patrick's Day is a great time to enjoy some Irish spirits, this cream cake can be great any time of the year. Enjoy!
Bailey's Irish Cream Cake
Makes 1 two layer 9" round cake
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour, sifted
4 tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 Bailey's Irish Cream
Preheat oven to 350.
Butter and flour two 9" round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
In medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt then set aside. Combine milk and Bailey's in measuring cup and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until lightened. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the mixing bowl occasionally.
Alternately add flour and milk mixture to cake batter, ending with flour.
Divide batter between cake pans and smooth our tops with spatula. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown and the cake tester comes out with moist crumbs. Transfer cakes to wire racks to cool. After 15 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the pans and then turn the cakes out onto the racks to finish cooling then frost.
Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted sweet cream butter
1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
5 cups powdered sugar
splash of milk
In a mixing bowl combine butter and Bailey's a cream until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, scraping down the bowl occasionally. Check the consistency of the frosting to make sure it is spreadable, add a splash of milk to loosen things up if it's too dry. Alternately, add more powdered sugar if the frosting seems too loose. Frost cake and serve.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
A funny thing and German Chocolate
And no the funny thing isn't the German Chocolate which I will get to in a moment.
The funny thing is I didn't think I posted my last post. By either lack of tech savvy on my part or some glitch on the part of my computer, my post was, well, posted. I had written about missing the blog, but wanted to hold off on putting it on line until I felt more confident with keeping to the commitment of blogging again. I didn't want to start all fired up only to find out that I didn't have the time to do the job properly.
Then came an email alert that a poster by the name of Our Family had commented on my recent entry. I slowly realized that I was "active" again. Soooo, here I am. Back again.
I'm excited to get talking food. I made a New Year's Resolution to try a new recipe every week and I am happy to report I've been sticking to it (unlike my plan to completely reorganize my office and read through back issues of about 50 food magazines, yikes! Well, there's always 2012.)
One of my experiments was for a recipe called German Chocolate Brownies. I came across it in Bon Appetit magazine's Reader's Favorite Restaurant Recipes section. The original recipe made about 54 brownies so I halved it and boy am I glad I did.
So delish, but soooooooo rich. I am not usually someone who believes in dessert in small quantities; it's dessert of goodness sake, live it up! But I would definitely say a little goes a long way when it comes to these brownies so have some guests to share it with.
It's a quick easy recipe that I highly recommend. The only labor intensive step is making the frosting, but I think an easy short cut would be using a can of store bought German Chocolate frosting instead.
German Chocolate Brownies
Brownies:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
Frosting:
3/4 cup half and half (I blended equal parts whole milk and cream)
1/2 & 1/8 cups sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes, room temperature)
3 large egg yolks
12 ounces sweetened flaked coconut (about 3 1/2 cups)
1 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350. Line a 8x8 inch pan with aluminum foil, leaving enough extra foil for a 2" overhand on 2 sides. Butter and flour the foil.
Whisk flour and cocoa in small bowl. Using a mixer, beat sugar and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add flour mixture and beat until just blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread to edges using a spatula.
Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean with a few moist crumbs attached, about 23 minutes or so.
Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
To make frosting, stir half and half, sugar, butter, egg yolks and vanilla in large saucepan over medium heat until mixture thickens and instant-read thermometer registers 180 F, stirring CONSTANTLY, about 15 minutes ( do NOT allow the mixture to boil) **this is why you may want to opt for the store bought frosting as a short cut!
Fold coconut and pecans into topping. Chill 1 hour. Spread over brownies. Cut into small squares and ENJOY!!
DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving, if desired.
The funny thing is I didn't think I posted my last post. By either lack of tech savvy on my part or some glitch on the part of my computer, my post was, well, posted. I had written about missing the blog, but wanted to hold off on putting it on line until I felt more confident with keeping to the commitment of blogging again. I didn't want to start all fired up only to find out that I didn't have the time to do the job properly.
Then came an email alert that a poster by the name of Our Family had commented on my recent entry. I slowly realized that I was "active" again. Soooo, here I am. Back again.
I'm excited to get talking food. I made a New Year's Resolution to try a new recipe every week and I am happy to report I've been sticking to it (unlike my plan to completely reorganize my office and read through back issues of about 50 food magazines, yikes! Well, there's always 2012.)
One of my experiments was for a recipe called German Chocolate Brownies. I came across it in Bon Appetit magazine's Reader's Favorite Restaurant Recipes section. The original recipe made about 54 brownies so I halved it and boy am I glad I did.
So delish, but soooooooo rich. I am not usually someone who believes in dessert in small quantities; it's dessert of goodness sake, live it up! But I would definitely say a little goes a long way when it comes to these brownies so have some guests to share it with.
It's a quick easy recipe that I highly recommend. The only labor intensive step is making the frosting, but I think an easy short cut would be using a can of store bought German Chocolate frosting instead.
German Chocolate Brownies
Brownies:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
Frosting:
3/4 cup half and half (I blended equal parts whole milk and cream)
1/2 & 1/8 cups sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes, room temperature)
3 large egg yolks
12 ounces sweetened flaked coconut (about 3 1/2 cups)
1 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350. Line a 8x8 inch pan with aluminum foil, leaving enough extra foil for a 2" overhand on 2 sides. Butter and flour the foil.
Whisk flour and cocoa in small bowl. Using a mixer, beat sugar and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add flour mixture and beat until just blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread to edges using a spatula.
Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean with a few moist crumbs attached, about 23 minutes or so.
Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
To make frosting, stir half and half, sugar, butter, egg yolks and vanilla in large saucepan over medium heat until mixture thickens and instant-read thermometer registers 180 F, stirring CONSTANTLY, about 15 minutes ( do NOT allow the mixture to boil) **this is why you may want to opt for the store bought frosting as a short cut!
Fold coconut and pecans into topping. Chill 1 hour. Spread over brownies. Cut into small squares and ENJOY!!
DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving, if desired.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
I Miss This...A LOT!
I just came across some recipe ideas from 2009 that I was working on for this blog and I thought, "Man, do I miss blogging!"
It's not so much the sharing my cooking with the world (or more realistically the few of you who were kind enough to follow my posts) that I missed, but the actual menu planning and recipe executing that I did.
I still menu plan and I still recipe tinker, but not with focus like I did when I was keeping this online record. So I think for me, in 2011, I'm going to try this again. But a little differently.
And it's because my life is a little different now, I'm a working mom. Just a little over a year ago my husband Peter and I became the proud parents to a baby boy.
So, the days of idly flipping through cookbooks and food magazines whenever the mood struck me are gone for the time being. Now when I go to the store it's in and out, no more wandering the aisles (well, maybe not "no" more, but definitely with less frequency). Thanks to a very supportive husband and patient baby I am still able to have at least one day in the kitchen just really going to work on a meal. So I will use that time as a jumping off point for this new foray into blogging.
Almost every Sunday we host a family meal. My cousins come over for dinner get together just like we would if we were back home in Omaha. When family is in from out of town they join us. Sometimes friends get included, but for the most part it's simply a weekly family meal. It's also when I usually do my recipe testing.
I use my relations as my own private guinea pigs for whatever recipe has caught my eye that week. I do take suggestions and my cousins have logged in their requests from time to time. Depending on if I already have a menu set and the shopping done, I'm happy to oblige. Birthdays are the exception, whoever is the lucky Birthday boy or girl gets to pick what they'd like for dinner and dessert, you know within reason (unless you're Peter, then it's anything goes!).
Not all of my attempts are successes; there's a particular soupy pudding cake I served up recently that comes to mind. Some weeks I'll just go with a tried and true standard or let the weekly specials decide. My kitchen resolution for 2011 was to try at least one new recipe a week. So far, I've kept my promise and with the exception of the "soup" cake I haven't been disappointed yet.
I'm going to try and post at least twice a week to get started. So I'll keep you updated on my Sunday dinner experiments and whatever new meal I'm testing driving on the husband and the boy. I'll let you know what they thought and if it lived up to my expectations.
So here we go. New year, new recipes and a new crack at blogging.
It's not so much the sharing my cooking with the world (or more realistically the few of you who were kind enough to follow my posts) that I missed, but the actual menu planning and recipe executing that I did.
I still menu plan and I still recipe tinker, but not with focus like I did when I was keeping this online record. So I think for me, in 2011, I'm going to try this again. But a little differently.
And it's because my life is a little different now, I'm a working mom. Just a little over a year ago my husband Peter and I became the proud parents to a baby boy.
So, the days of idly flipping through cookbooks and food magazines whenever the mood struck me are gone for the time being. Now when I go to the store it's in and out, no more wandering the aisles (well, maybe not "no" more, but definitely with less frequency). Thanks to a very supportive husband and patient baby I am still able to have at least one day in the kitchen just really going to work on a meal. So I will use that time as a jumping off point for this new foray into blogging.
Almost every Sunday we host a family meal. My cousins come over for dinner get together just like we would if we were back home in Omaha. When family is in from out of town they join us. Sometimes friends get included, but for the most part it's simply a weekly family meal. It's also when I usually do my recipe testing.
I use my relations as my own private guinea pigs for whatever recipe has caught my eye that week. I do take suggestions and my cousins have logged in their requests from time to time. Depending on if I already have a menu set and the shopping done, I'm happy to oblige. Birthdays are the exception, whoever is the lucky Birthday boy or girl gets to pick what they'd like for dinner and dessert, you know within reason (unless you're Peter, then it's anything goes!).
Not all of my attempts are successes; there's a particular soupy pudding cake I served up recently that comes to mind. Some weeks I'll just go with a tried and true standard or let the weekly specials decide. My kitchen resolution for 2011 was to try at least one new recipe a week. So far, I've kept my promise and with the exception of the "soup" cake I haven't been disappointed yet.
I'm going to try and post at least twice a week to get started. So I'll keep you updated on my Sunday dinner experiments and whatever new meal I'm testing driving on the husband and the boy. I'll let you know what they thought and if it lived up to my expectations.
So here we go. New year, new recipes and a new crack at blogging.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Lobster Bisque
Recently it was my husband Peter's birthday and according to family tradition he got to pick the menu for his Birthday Dinner.
In addition to New York Strip Steak, Baked Potatoes, Homemade Onion Rings and Red Velvet Cake Peter asked for Lobster Bisque.
What the Birthday Boy wants the Birthday Boy gets!
So after a lot of preparation Peter got his beloved Lobster Bisque.
A word of warning...preparing the soup is rather time consuming. So unless you just have a load of free time to fill I would save it for those special occasion meals (like Birthdays) when you can share the richly flavored dish with friends and family.
Lobster Bisque
Serves 8
Total cost: $46.00 (appox. $5.75/person)
1 2lb. live lobster (or two 1 lb. lobsters), be sure to leave the claws bound
3 quarts water
1 cup white wine
3 tarragon sprigs or 1 TBSP of dried tarragon
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 2" pieces
2 celery ribs cut into 2" pieces
2 medium onions peeled and quartered
2 garlic cloves peeled
4 TBSP unsalted butter
3 TBSP brandy
1 TBSP tomato paste
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 TBSP cornstarch
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp of lemon juice
Combine water, wine, tarragon, bay leaf and salt in an 8 quart pot and bring to a boil. Put the lobster in the boiling water head first and cook for about 10 minutes with the pot loosely covered. With tongs remove the lobster from the pot and set aside in a shallow baking dish to cool. Pour the cooking liquid into a large bowl.
Once the lobster is cool enough to handle, crack the shell and remove the meat from the tail, claws and joints. Reserve the shells, but discard the lobster body. Pour any left over juice into the bowl with the cooking liquid. Cut the lobster meat into 1/2 inch pieces, cover and refrigerate.
Wrap the claw shells in a sturdy kitchen towel and pound with either a mallet or rolling pin until they broken up into 1/2 inch pieces. With kitchen shears cut the remaining shells into 1/2 inch pieces as well.
In a food processor pulse the carrots, celery, onions and garlic until finely chopped. Melt the butter in a clean pot over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes or until they are soft. Add the lobster shells to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add brandy and simmer until it has evaporated. Stir in tomato paste, reserved cooking liquid and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring every once in a while until the liquid has reduced by about half, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
Once the soup has reduced, discard the bay leaf and then with a slotted spoon put the solids (even the lobster shells) in small batches into the food processor. Puree until as smooth as possible. Force the solids through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing hard on the solids. Pour some of the cooking liquid through the sieve to extract as much liquid as possible from the solids. Discard the solids and return soup to a clean pot.
Bring the soup to a boil. Stir together 1/2 cup of soup and cornstarch in small bowl until smooth then whisk the mixture into the pot of soup. Simmer, whisking constantly until the soup gets slightly thickened. Then add the cream, lemon juice, salt and lobster meat and heat through, do NOT boil. Serve.
**The bisque can be made up to 2 days in advance. Cool the prepared soup uncovered then cover the cooled soup and refrigerate. When reheating the bisque do so over low heat, do NOT let the soup boil.
In addition to New York Strip Steak, Baked Potatoes, Homemade Onion Rings and Red Velvet Cake Peter asked for Lobster Bisque.
What the Birthday Boy wants the Birthday Boy gets!
So after a lot of preparation Peter got his beloved Lobster Bisque.
A word of warning...preparing the soup is rather time consuming. So unless you just have a load of free time to fill I would save it for those special occasion meals (like Birthdays) when you can share the richly flavored dish with friends and family.
Lobster Bisque
Serves 8
Total cost: $46.00 (appox. $5.75/person)
1 2lb. live lobster (or two 1 lb. lobsters), be sure to leave the claws bound
3 quarts water
1 cup white wine
3 tarragon sprigs or 1 TBSP of dried tarragon
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 2" pieces
2 celery ribs cut into 2" pieces
2 medium onions peeled and quartered
2 garlic cloves peeled
4 TBSP unsalted butter
3 TBSP brandy
1 TBSP tomato paste
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 TBSP cornstarch
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp of lemon juice
Combine water, wine, tarragon, bay leaf and salt in an 8 quart pot and bring to a boil. Put the lobster in the boiling water head first and cook for about 10 minutes with the pot loosely covered. With tongs remove the lobster from the pot and set aside in a shallow baking dish to cool. Pour the cooking liquid into a large bowl.
Once the lobster is cool enough to handle, crack the shell and remove the meat from the tail, claws and joints. Reserve the shells, but discard the lobster body. Pour any left over juice into the bowl with the cooking liquid. Cut the lobster meat into 1/2 inch pieces, cover and refrigerate.
Wrap the claw shells in a sturdy kitchen towel and pound with either a mallet or rolling pin until they broken up into 1/2 inch pieces. With kitchen shears cut the remaining shells into 1/2 inch pieces as well.
In a food processor pulse the carrots, celery, onions and garlic until finely chopped. Melt the butter in a clean pot over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes or until they are soft. Add the lobster shells to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add brandy and simmer until it has evaporated. Stir in tomato paste, reserved cooking liquid and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring every once in a while until the liquid has reduced by about half, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
Once the soup has reduced, discard the bay leaf and then with a slotted spoon put the solids (even the lobster shells) in small batches into the food processor. Puree until as smooth as possible. Force the solids through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing hard on the solids. Pour some of the cooking liquid through the sieve to extract as much liquid as possible from the solids. Discard the solids and return soup to a clean pot.
Bring the soup to a boil. Stir together 1/2 cup of soup and cornstarch in small bowl until smooth then whisk the mixture into the pot of soup. Simmer, whisking constantly until the soup gets slightly thickened. Then add the cream, lemon juice, salt and lobster meat and heat through, do NOT boil. Serve.
**The bisque can be made up to 2 days in advance. Cool the prepared soup uncovered then cover the cooled soup and refrigerate. When reheating the bisque do so over low heat, do NOT let the soup boil.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Dirty Rice
The other night I found myself faced with an interesting predicament: a pound of ground beef and no idea what to do with it.
It's seems so simple, there are SO many ground beef options out there, but none of my usual weeknight go to's were clicking.
Tacos? Out of shells.
Spaghetti? Had it last week.
Burgers? No buns.
Then I remembered a simple Cajun dish I had heard of years ago, but had never tried. Dirty rice.
On the few occasions when I've had Cajun food I have never ordered the dirty rice. It always seemed like this simpler dish that when put on a menu with Gumbo or Jambalaya gets out shined by its multi-component or roux based siblings.
So I decided to give this easy weeknight dish a try and I was NOT disappointed.
It reminded me a lot of Fried Rice...the Cajun version. The best part is it's made up of inexpensive ingredients I already had in the house. It made quite a bit and when I had some of the left overs the next day it was just as good as the night I cooked it.
Dirty Rice
Serves 6-8
Total Cost: $5.60 (appox. $.93-$.70 per person)
1lb ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 green or red pepper, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cups of cooked rice
1/8 cup chopped parsley
2 tsp Cajun Seasoning or Louisiana Hot Sauce
Salt & Pepper, to taste
In a large skillet over medium high heat cook the ground beef until completely browned. Add the vegetables and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Finally, stir in the seasoning, rice and parsley and serve.
It's seems so simple, there are SO many ground beef options out there, but none of my usual weeknight go to's were clicking.
Tacos? Out of shells.
Spaghetti? Had it last week.
Burgers? No buns.
Then I remembered a simple Cajun dish I had heard of years ago, but had never tried. Dirty rice.
On the few occasions when I've had Cajun food I have never ordered the dirty rice. It always seemed like this simpler dish that when put on a menu with Gumbo or Jambalaya gets out shined by its multi-component or roux based siblings.
So I decided to give this easy weeknight dish a try and I was NOT disappointed.
It reminded me a lot of Fried Rice...the Cajun version. The best part is it's made up of inexpensive ingredients I already had in the house. It made quite a bit and when I had some of the left overs the next day it was just as good as the night I cooked it.
Dirty Rice
Serves 6-8
Total Cost: $5.60 (appox. $.93-$.70 per person)
1lb ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 green or red pepper, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cups of cooked rice
1/8 cup chopped parsley
2 tsp Cajun Seasoning or Louisiana Hot Sauce
Salt & Pepper, to taste
In a large skillet over medium high heat cook the ground beef until completely browned. Add the vegetables and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Finally, stir in the seasoning, rice and parsley and serve.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Goat Cheese and Prosciutto Egg Strata
I owe my friend Nikki full credit for this super yummy casserole recipe.
When I told her I was looking for a new egg dish to serve at my Book Club meeting, Nikki came to the rescue with one of her classic tasty go-to dishes.
You assemble all the ingredients the night before so all you have to do the morning you want to serve it is pull it out of the fridge 3o minutes before you plan on putting it in the oven and you are good to go.
As easy as it is delicious.
Goat Cheese and Prosciutto Egg Strata
Serves 8-10
18 slices firm white bread (such as English muffin bread), crusts removed
6 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
8 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
4 ounces provolone, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
6 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
5 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Line bottom of 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish completely with 1 layer of bread, cutting some slices to fit. Arrange half of prosciutto evenly over bread. Sprinkle half of goat cheese and half of provolone over. Sprinkle with half of green onions and half of basil. Top with second layer of bread. Layer remaining prosciutto, goat cheese, provolone, green onions, and basil atop bread. Cut remaining bread into 1/4-inch cubes. Sprinkle over top.
Whisk eggs, milk, mustard, and salt in bowl. Season with pepper. Pour egg mixture over strata; press down on bread with spatula. Drizzle melted butter over strata. Cover and refrigerate overnight. 6
Preheat oven to 350°F. Uncover strata and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake until center is set, about 1 hour. Remove from oven. Preheat broiler. Place strata under broiler until top is golden, about 30 seconds.
Cut into large squares and serve.
When I told her I was looking for a new egg dish to serve at my Book Club meeting, Nikki came to the rescue with one of her classic tasty go-to dishes.
You assemble all the ingredients the night before so all you have to do the morning you want to serve it is pull it out of the fridge 3o minutes before you plan on putting it in the oven and you are good to go.
As easy as it is delicious.
Goat Cheese and Prosciutto Egg Strata
Serves 8-10
18 slices firm white bread (such as English muffin bread), crusts removed
6 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
8 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
4 ounces provolone, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
6 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
5 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Line bottom of 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish completely with 1 layer of bread, cutting some slices to fit. Arrange half of prosciutto evenly over bread. Sprinkle half of goat cheese and half of provolone over. Sprinkle with half of green onions and half of basil. Top with second layer of bread. Layer remaining prosciutto, goat cheese, provolone, green onions, and basil atop bread. Cut remaining bread into 1/4-inch cubes. Sprinkle over top.
Whisk eggs, milk, mustard, and salt in bowl. Season with pepper. Pour egg mixture over strata; press down on bread with spatula. Drizzle melted butter over strata. Cover and refrigerate overnight. 6
Preheat oven to 350°F. Uncover strata and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake until center is set, about 1 hour. Remove from oven. Preheat broiler. Place strata under broiler until top is golden, about 30 seconds.
Cut into large squares and serve.
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