I've been on a stock kick for the last week or so. I love starting the day with a mug of no-salt stock (it's a log easier and quicker than making eggs), and I'm going to start experimenting with onion-less stocks for the food allergies out there.
Stocks can be stored in the fridge for a week, after 5 days or so re-boil it. You're effectively creating the world's best petri dish. If you store it in the fridge let the fat rise to the top and create a barrier to the air. If you're going to freeze it, skim the fat off. I've heard ice-cube trays work well, and then you can pull out what you need and dump it into soups and sauces for flavor.
Basic Stock:
2 lbs beef stew bones
5 onions
6 carrots
8 cloves of garlic
Black peppercorns (15 or so?)
Parsley
Quarter the onions, chop the carrots into 1" pieces, place them with the garlic and beef bones in a roasting pan and roast for 45 minutes at 400, turning the meat over at 25 minutes. Put everything into a stock pot and cover with cold water. Simmer for 6 hours. Strain through a colander and cheesecloth.
More complicated stock:
(Original recipe here: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/beef_bouillon_soup_from_oxtails/)
2 lb beef marrow bones
1 lb beef shank w/ bone
2.5 lb oxtail (one oxtail)
4 onions
3 carrots
1 heart of celery
Lemon zest from a lemon
The rest of the lemon
1 cup red wine (probably more, actually, no idea really. Enough to de-glaze the roasting pans and a dash more)
14 oz mushrooms (plain white stuffing ones? No idea what they're called)
4 Bay leaves
Thyme
Black pepper
- Quarter the onions and chop the carrots and celery into 1" pieces
- Place the meat, onions, carrots, and lemon zest into roasting pans, cover liberally with ground pepper
- Roast at 450 for 30 minutes until browning (not blackening). Turn the meat over at around 15-20 minutes
- Set off the smoke alarm accidentally (don't do this, please. Your neighbors will thank you)
- Place the roasted meat and vegetables into the stock pot. Add the rest of the ingredients
- Deglaze the roasting pan with the wine, pour into the stock pot.
- Add enough cold water to the stockpot to cover everything
- Cover and simmer at least 6 hours. (I simmered it for 14).
- Strain through a colander and cheesecloth
- Refrigerate
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Whipped Cream (and variations)
Whipped cream is easy and it tastes so much better than Cool-whip and any other storebought brands. Disclaimer: All amounts on this page approximate.
Ingredients:
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp confectioner's sugar (to taste)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. (to taste, but vanilla extract is strong)
Add it all into a mixing bowl. Beat on medium with an electric beater for a few minutes, until it beings to form peaks. Bonus points if you chill the bowl and the beater attachements before making it, but I usually skip that step and it always seems to work out ok in the end.
Modifications for dessert coffee flavoring:
- Use 1 tbps instant coffee instead of the vanilla (again to taste. Start with a half tbsp if you don't usually drink coffee)
- Start with ~3 tbsp confectioner's sugar, and add more as needed to cut the bitterness of the coffee.
Modification for whipped cream with fish. Instead of sugar and vanilla, use:
- 1 tbsp parsley
- 3 chives, chopped
- Lemon zest
- Lemon juice
- salt and pepper
NOTES: I really liked this the one time I made it, but I will probably experiment with the herbs and the amounts to get something a bit more tailored to my taste. Go easy on the lemon, it's easier to add it if you don't have enough than to take it out if it's too much. Worst comes to worst, you can squeeze some lemon juice onto the fish directly if the cream doesn't have enough. Original recipe here: http://food52.com/blog/365-savory-whipped-cream
Ingredients:
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp confectioner's sugar (to taste)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. (to taste, but vanilla extract is strong)
Add it all into a mixing bowl. Beat on medium with an electric beater for a few minutes, until it beings to form peaks. Bonus points if you chill the bowl and the beater attachements before making it, but I usually skip that step and it always seems to work out ok in the end.
Modifications for dessert coffee flavoring:
- Use 1 tbps instant coffee instead of the vanilla (again to taste. Start with a half tbsp if you don't usually drink coffee)
- Start with ~3 tbsp confectioner's sugar, and add more as needed to cut the bitterness of the coffee.
Modification for whipped cream with fish. Instead of sugar and vanilla, use:
- 1 tbsp parsley
- 3 chives, chopped
- Lemon zest
- Lemon juice
- salt and pepper
NOTES: I really liked this the one time I made it, but I will probably experiment with the herbs and the amounts to get something a bit more tailored to my taste. Go easy on the lemon, it's easier to add it if you don't have enough than to take it out if it's too much. Worst comes to worst, you can squeeze some lemon juice onto the fish directly if the cream doesn't have enough. Original recipe here: http://food52.com/blog/365-savory-whipped-cream
Trifle
Same disclaimer as always: amounts are inexact, and I never make these the same way twice. Use as guideline and with caution. I made Chocolate Trifle #2 for an office party today, it turned out pretty well.
TRIFLE BASICS:
Ingredients
- Cake
- Pudding (I always use instant, it's easier)
- Something(s) with a complementary flavor to your cake and pudding types. Call this ingredient1
- Whipped Cream (I prefer homemade, I'll do a different blogpost for that)
Instructions
- Bake the cake, or buy the cake pre-made if you're running out of time. Let it cool.
- Get all of your ingredient1 ready - chopped, crumbled, whatever it needs to make it ready to go
- Get the pudding ready. If you're using instant pudding, mix it up so it's homogenous, but not so much that it sets
- Layer as follows: Cake, pudding, ingredient1, cake, pudding, ingredient1, optional: whipped cream, cake, pudding, ingredient1, whipped cream - Decorate the top
- Refrigerate, serve cold.
Notes:
- Trifle is best the second day, when the pudding has time to soak into the cake properly.
- Consistency is important. Be careful that your extra ingredients don't change the consistency too much.
- If you include a layer of whipped cream in the middle, make sure that your whipped cream is on the stiffer side of the cream <--> butter spectrum. It is a higher priority to make sure you have enough for the top than to put a layer in the middle.
- I only put in a layer of whipped cream if I'm using a dish that has clear sides. In that case I will often double or triple the amount of pudding, as well, to make sure I'm getting clear striations.
Chocolate Trifle 1
- Chocolate cake
- Instant butterscotch pudding
- Chocolate chips
- Vanilla whipped cream
Chocolate Trifle 2
- Triple chocolate fudge cake
- Instant chocolate pudding
- Layer one: crumbled Heath bar
- Layer two: Peanut butter chips and accidentally-melted chocolate chips
- Layer three: Peanut butter chips and crumbled Heath bar
- Decorations: Raspberries
NOTES: Don't accidentally melt the chocolate chips. They form into a solid block of chocolate and completely ruin the consistency, and make it hard to eat with a spoon. Also, I'm not sure I liked the juxtaposition of the raspberries with the toffee and peanut butter. I would probably make it either/or next time. Also, when I made this I ran out of milk and had to make the pudding with a cream/water mixture that came out to about the right consistency, maybe 1/4 cream 3/4 water. I didn't notice a difference in final taste of the trifle.
Coffee Trifle
- Coffee angel food cake (when making the cake, use coffee instead of water. Instant coffee works well for this, and you can tune it to how strong you want the coffee flavor).
- Instant chocolate pudding
- Raspberries/bananas/strawberries
- Coffee whipped cream
NOTES: This one went over really well. Medium strength coffee flavor in the cake, medium-light coffee flavor in the whipped cream. I made the whipped cream sweeter than usual to offset the coffee flavor. I like the bananas VERY ripe so that they're almost mushy.
Fruit Trifle
- Yellow cake
- Vanilla pudding
- Strawberries/Blueberries/Raspberries/Bananas, sometimes mango and peach as well
- Vanilla whipped cream
NOTES: My favorite
TRIFLE BASICS:
Ingredients
- Cake
- Pudding (I always use instant, it's easier)
- Something(s) with a complementary flavor to your cake and pudding types. Call this ingredient1
- Whipped Cream (I prefer homemade, I'll do a different blogpost for that)
Instructions
- Bake the cake, or buy the cake pre-made if you're running out of time. Let it cool.
- Get all of your ingredient1 ready - chopped, crumbled, whatever it needs to make it ready to go
- Get the pudding ready. If you're using instant pudding, mix it up so it's homogenous, but not so much that it sets
- Layer as follows: Cake, pudding, ingredient1, cake, pudding, ingredient1, optional: whipped cream, cake, pudding, ingredient1, whipped cream - Decorate the top
- Refrigerate, serve cold.
Notes:
- Trifle is best the second day, when the pudding has time to soak into the cake properly.
- Consistency is important. Be careful that your extra ingredients don't change the consistency too much.
- If you include a layer of whipped cream in the middle, make sure that your whipped cream is on the stiffer side of the cream <--> butter spectrum. It is a higher priority to make sure you have enough for the top than to put a layer in the middle.
- I only put in a layer of whipped cream if I'm using a dish that has clear sides. In that case I will often double or triple the amount of pudding, as well, to make sure I'm getting clear striations.
Chocolate Trifle 1
- Chocolate cake
- Instant butterscotch pudding
- Chocolate chips
- Vanilla whipped cream
Chocolate Trifle 2
- Triple chocolate fudge cake
- Instant chocolate pudding
- Layer one: crumbled Heath bar
- Layer two: Peanut butter chips and accidentally-melted chocolate chips
- Layer three: Peanut butter chips and crumbled Heath bar
- Decorations: Raspberries
NOTES: Don't accidentally melt the chocolate chips. They form into a solid block of chocolate and completely ruin the consistency, and make it hard to eat with a spoon. Also, I'm not sure I liked the juxtaposition of the raspberries with the toffee and peanut butter. I would probably make it either/or next time. Also, when I made this I ran out of milk and had to make the pudding with a cream/water mixture that came out to about the right consistency, maybe 1/4 cream 3/4 water. I didn't notice a difference in final taste of the trifle.
Coffee Trifle
- Coffee angel food cake (when making the cake, use coffee instead of water. Instant coffee works well for this, and you can tune it to how strong you want the coffee flavor).
- Instant chocolate pudding
- Raspberries/bananas/strawberries
- Coffee whipped cream
NOTES: This one went over really well. Medium strength coffee flavor in the cake, medium-light coffee flavor in the whipped cream. I made the whipped cream sweeter than usual to offset the coffee flavor. I like the bananas VERY ripe so that they're almost mushy.
Fruit Trifle
- Yellow cake
- Vanilla pudding
- Strawberries/Blueberries/Raspberries/Bananas, sometimes mango and peach as well
- Vanilla whipped cream
NOTES: My favorite
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Roasted Carrots and Sweet Potato Salad
4 Large sweet potatoes
2 lbs carrots
6 cloves of garlic
~3 tbsps fresh ginger
1/2 cup slivered almonds
olive oil
rosemary
salt
pepper
0. Pre-heat the oven to 400 F
1. Slice the carrots diagonally
2. Chop the sweet potatoes (~1/2 inch cubes)
3. Mince the garlic and ginger
4. Mix it all together in a big mixing bowl with enough olive oil to lightly coat.
5. Add a little bit of salt, a good amount of pepper, and a lot of rosemary
6. Spread out in one layer on a baking sheet or three.
7. Bake for 30 minutes.
My intentions for this was to create a bleu cheese and roasted vegetable salad. I'm not sure how well I like the bleu cheese right now with it, because it overpowers the taste of the vegetables. However, the sweet potatoes and carrots are very sweet, and do need something a little bit more savory to offset them. I made a LOT of the roasted vegetables and will update this more as I try different things with them. In the meantime, I'm thoroughly enjoying eating the roast veggies with just a tiny bit of bleu cheese.
2 lbs carrots
6 cloves of garlic
~3 tbsps fresh ginger
1/2 cup slivered almonds
olive oil
rosemary
salt
pepper
0. Pre-heat the oven to 400 F
1. Slice the carrots diagonally
2. Chop the sweet potatoes (~1/2 inch cubes)
3. Mince the garlic and ginger
4. Mix it all together in a big mixing bowl with enough olive oil to lightly coat.
5. Add a little bit of salt, a good amount of pepper, and a lot of rosemary
6. Spread out in one layer on a baking sheet or three.
7. Bake for 30 minutes.
My intentions for this was to create a bleu cheese and roasted vegetable salad. I'm not sure how well I like the bleu cheese right now with it, because it overpowers the taste of the vegetables. However, the sweet potatoes and carrots are very sweet, and do need something a little bit more savory to offset them. I made a LOT of the roasted vegetables and will update this more as I try different things with them. In the meantime, I'm thoroughly enjoying eating the roast veggies with just a tiny bit of bleu cheese.
Roasted Portobellos and Bleu Cheese
Ingredients:
2 Portobello mushrooms, de-stemmed
Soy Sauce
Bleu Cheese (2 tbsps, approx)
Olive oil
Black Pepper
1. Preheat oven to 425 F
2. Place portobellos on baking sheet gill side up
3. Add a dash of soy sauce to the mushrooms. I accidentally put too much, and had to drain them out.
4. Season with freshly ground black pepper
5. Add a dash of olive oil
6. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes.
7. Pull out of the oven and add the bleu cheese.
8. Bake for another 10 minutes until cheese is melted
While I loved these, definitely a bit too salty. I probably should avoid overdosing on the soy sauce next time around. Actually, next time I will probably skip the soy sauce altogether, since there is a lot of salt in the cheese. Other than that tasted very good. I ate them almost immediately when they came out of the oven, being careful not to burn myself.
2 Portobello mushrooms, de-stemmed
Soy Sauce
Bleu Cheese (2 tbsps, approx)
Olive oil
Black Pepper
1. Preheat oven to 425 F
2. Place portobellos on baking sheet gill side up
3. Add a dash of soy sauce to the mushrooms. I accidentally put too much, and had to drain them out.
4. Season with freshly ground black pepper
5. Add a dash of olive oil
6. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes.
7. Pull out of the oven and add the bleu cheese.
8. Bake for another 10 minutes until cheese is melted
While I loved these, definitely a bit too salty. I probably should avoid overdosing on the soy sauce next time around. Actually, next time I will probably skip the soy sauce altogether, since there is a lot of salt in the cheese. Other than that tasted very good. I ate them almost immediately when they came out of the oven, being careful not to burn myself.
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