August 11, 2008

Heights Eats

Heights Eats

Pasta with Tomatoes, Saffron and Sausage

A few years ago my dad got us Bugialli on Pasta. We've been hesitant to use it, partly because it seems more like a reference book than a cookbook and partially because its very apparent authenticity (recipes classified by regions of Italy) is intimidating.

I finally cooked from it though, and I definitely will again. The recipe below is an adaptation of "malloreddus alla camppidanese," a dish based in the island of Sardinia.


Pasta with Tomatoes, Saffron and Sausage

1 1/2 lbs. tomatoes, fresh or canned
1 lb. of Italian sausage, sweet or hot
1/2 cup olive oil
2 large whole cloves garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves
5 basil leaves
a couple pinches of saffron strands
1 lb. of pasta (we used spaghetti)
3/4 cup of grated cheese (romano, parmesan, mozarella, etc.)
Salt and pepper

(1) Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan until hot
(2) Remove casings from sausage and crumble into oil. Sautee until browned.
(3) Remove sausage to a plate and reserve it. Add whole garlic to the oil and cook for four minutes. Remove.
(4) Press tomatoes through a food mill or fine strainer into the oil, then add basil, bay leaves and saffron. Cook for about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
(5) Meanwhile, cook the pasta, adding a pinch of crumbled saffron to the salted cooking water.
(6) Add drained pasta and sausage to sauce.
(7) Serve with cheese.

Serves 5-6


We would have liked a picture to go with this recipe, but we only made a half batch and it was almost gone before we thought about blogging on it. A picture can't capture the fragrance of tomatoes, saffron and garlic, however, which is what makes this dish so appealing. The sausage was good, too, but the dish would have still been tasty without it.

The original recipe uses sliced sweet sausage (we used hot), imported malloreddus pasta, tomato quarters and pecorino sardo cheese. Malloreddus pasta contains saffron, which I compensated for by adding saffron to the cooking water (the spaghetti without anything on it tasted good!) but maybe next time I'll seek out pecorino sardo.

by Ben at1:33 AM under kid approved, recipe, recipe review


August 10, 2008

taawd's™ thoughts

Taawds Thoughts

Don't Turn My Underwear Pink

My mother and father raised me and my sister right. They get kudos for it from their friends. I, of course, like hearing that people think my sister and I are not maladjusted.

Growing up in the "S" household meant knowing how to do things, namely, dishes, laundry (learning how not to turn underwear pink,) dusting, sweeping and vacuuming, and yes, even cooking and baking. I've blogged about my dad's influence on me here before so it's my mother's turn. My mother made sure both of her children knew how to keep care of themselves and prepared us for life. When I went off to college it was me who made sure my college buddies didn't screw up their clothes in the laundry. My mother just made sure we knew how to keep our lives on track (and clean.) This came from the same woman who would fluff pillows on the couch before the person even got up.

Here's where the admission comes into play. I like to cook and occassionally bake. Yes, bake. Not really for the joy it may bring others while they're in the kitchen but the fringe benefits it offers me. This brings me to a story that I never let my sister live down. Many Christmases ago, in a land far, far away (from Cleveland... that would be Wayne County) I decided I would bake some Christmas cookies. My father was at work. My mother was working also and didn't think she'd get time to bake the annual holiday cookies so I took the bull by the horns, opened up her recipe box and started putting together the ingredients to Mexican Wedding Cookies and to my mother's Christmas cookies (with deference to Marianne B. for either the recipe or the frosting, complete with lemon flavoring).

{start dramatic music}

I slaved away in that kitchen all day long, making dozens of cookies for my family to enjoy. My sister came home first...

{end dramatic music, start Dragnet-like music}

Then my mother arrived, she was stunned somebody had made all of the cookies for the season. I remember she was really busy doing something that holiday so she wasn't going to make them. I digress. My sister promptly told my mother, she'd made all of the cookies while I watched TV or something like that all day. My mother complimented my sister on how good every cookie looked and how she didn't even have a lot of success with the Mexican Wedding Cookies.

I was stunned. I'd worked all day and my sister was taking AND getting the credit for my accomplishments. I told my mother I made the cookies. She rolled her eyes and said something like there was no way I'd made the cookies and they came out that good. Believe it or not, it was years before my sister relented and actually admitted she had no part in making the cookies that day. I believe she also claimed amnesty for several other fibs as well. God, I always got in trouble for things I didn't do and just took the punishment. Come to think of it, that still happens today.

I cook often (what do you want, I'm a bachelor) but every now and then just to prove to myself that I can, I'll try to bake something. There's nothing better than having some fresh Toll House cookies in my place or even Nolan's mother's Pistachio Cake. Before you say anything about this post, I'll gladly let you come over to my house and bake something for me.

Here's the recipe for the Pistachio Cake:

Ingredients:
White or yellow cake mix (I think Nolan's mom uses Yellow)
One 3 oz. box of pistachio instant pudding
4 eggs
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp Water

Bake 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes in a 9x13 greased & floured
pan

Glaze:
2 cups powered sugar, 1/3 cup water, 2 tspns vanilla.

Turn off oven, poke holes in cake, pour on glaze, put in oven for
additional 5 minutes.

It's great, I've made it, it's very moist and rich.

Try it, you won't be disappointed,

by taawd at7:38 PM under baking, cookies, cooking, family, pistachio cake, recipe


August 7, 2008

Heights Eats

Heights Eats

Triscuit Sliders

These were inspired by a craving for beef but not for a soft bun. They're really easy to make and work equally well as an appetizer or as a main course. Each of the three flavor components--seasoned beef, nutty wheat, and hot sauce--are bold and really come through.


Triscuit (or equivalent) Sliders

2/3 lb. ground chuck or sirloin (85% or more lean)
16 Woven Wheats, Triscuits or Quilts
Seasoning (e.g. Borsari, Montreal Steak, or just course salt & pepper)
Mayonnaise
Hot sauce

(1) Form beef into eight (8) small patties and season.
(2) Pan fry or grill beef, 2-3 minutes per side for medium (which works well here)
(3) Place patties on crackers.
(4) Combine mayo and hot sauce (ratio to taste--I did about 50/50) and drizzle over burgers.
(5) Top with remaining eight crackers.

Makes four appetizer or two entree servings.


Even if you're not a fan of hot food, you still might want a few drops of hot sauce in the mayonnaise. The mayo is rich enough that the spiciness will be very mild.

by Ben at2:25 PM under recipe


August 4, 2008

Heights Eats

Heights Eats

Strong Red Ale, Part 2

A little over a month ago I brewed some beer and promised to blog again when I bottled it. I'm a bit behind, as I bottled it a week after posting. Here's the bottling procedure:

(1) Sanitize everything that will come in contact with the beer: your bottles, caps, siphoning tube and carbuoy (bucket). I used One Step, an oxygen based sanitizer, to avoid having to rinse after using bleach.

(2) Boil 3/4 cup corn sugar with two cups water for five minutes. This adds some extra sugar for the yeast to feed on in the bottles which will result in carbonation.

(3) Pour the liquid into your carbuoy.

(4) Siphon beer into your carbuoy. I use an auto siphon pump for convenience, as regular siphoning can be tricky. Without the pump, you basically fill your tube with water, place one end in the beer you've brewed and the other into your carbuoy (which must be a few feet below the beer, as this is a gravity-based procedure).

(5) Siphon the beer into your bottles using a bottle filler, and cap using a capper.

(6) Wait as long as you can manage (at least a few days) and try the beer.


*************

The beer turned out pretty well. I liked the use of only one kind of hop. The spiciness of the Cascades definitely permeated the beer, and the roasted barley added a nice (if very mild) roasted flavor. I wasn't sure at first about the single hopping, as after only 4-5 days the flavor was a bit too intense. It mellowed after a few weeks, though.

Unfortunately, a few bottles of beer were "off." The best way to assure sanitation is to rinse your bottles shortly after drinking your beer. There were about five Sam Adams bottles (I haven't bought Sam Adams in a few years) that were all skunked. I've been better recently about rinsing, though, so hopefully this problem won't reoccur.

For more detailed instructions on brewing, click here.

by Ben at1:09 AM under beer, recipe


May 5, 2008

ClevelanDish

Clevelandish

Recipe: Peanut Butter Bedlam Ice Cream


A few weeks ago, I got it into my head to figure out how to make good peanut butter ice cream. My first attempt was a disaster. Yesterday I tried a different recipe and the result was declared, by three independent, unbiased taste testers, “the best peanut butter ice cream ever.”

The secret? This book: The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovtiz. This guy rocks. The Perfect Scoop is my favorite type of cookbook: amazing, creative recipes; solid, even scientific explanations of the ingredients and equipment; and just the right amount of mouth-watering close-ups of the finished product.

Peanut Butter Bedlam Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart.

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
2 2/3 cups half and half
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp vanilla

Puree everything in a food processor until smooth. (I just used a whisk for a few minutes.) Chill in the refrigerator, then freeze in your ice cream maker

You can add chopped peanuts at the end to make crunchy, or, I suppose, some make some nice milk chocolate chunks.

I pretty much followed David’s recipe, except that I used Trader Joe’s organic smooth peanut butter instead of regular smooth peanut butter.

If you’re into making ice cream, I highly recommend checking out The Perfect Scoop. Tons of great other flavors, including Guinness-Milk Chocolate Ice Cream, Fresh Ginger Ice Cream, Gianduja Gelato, Goat Cheese Ice Cream, Black Pepper Ice Cream, and a gazillion other extras. Enjoy!

by jenniferferf at2:33 AM under chocolate, cookbooks, food ideas, gelato, ice cream, peanut butter, recipe, recipes and preparations (Comments)


June 25, 2008

Heights Eats

Heights Eats

Strong Red Ale, Part One

It's been a while since I've brewed beer, but, what with some free time this summer and an increase in beer prices, I figured it might be fun.

I decided on one of my favorites from Charlie Papazian's The Joy of Homebrewing, "Special Strong Red Bitter." It's from a chart in the book, and you basically make the recipe based on suggested ingredients. I started out by boiling 2 oz. of unmalted lightly crushed (in a ziploc) barley in a gallon of water, then scooping the barley out with a strainer. This adds a little bit of roasted bitterness to the beer. I then added 6.6 lbs of Munton and Fisson's Unhopped Amber Malt along with 1.5 oz. Cascade Hop pellets, and brough everything to a boil again:


Meanwhile, I sanitzed everything that would come in contact with the beer (including the carbuoy, which isn't pictured). (Sanitizing is perhaps the most important aspect of beer brewing. Biologists actually leave out malt in order to try to grow bacteria so, needless to say, everything should be well-soaked in a weak bleach solution--1/4 cup per five gallons).

During the last five minutes of the boil, I added another .25 oz. Cascade hops for flavor and then, during the last two minutes, added .25 oz. more for aroma. Cascade are an American variety of hops grown in the Pacific Northwest with a strong citrus flavor and aroma.
Meanwhile, I added 3 gallons of cold water to my carbuoy. After the boil, I sparged (poured) everything through a strainer into the carbuoy using the small pan as a ladle. Towards the end, I allowed the last bit of hops and grains in, as straining and pouring gets a bit tricky in a one person operation (I always used to do this anyway).

I added a bit more cold water, then let everything cool to 85 degrees or so, then sprinkled yeast on top and finally attached the airlock (this allows air to bubble out, but no outside air can get in). Within a few hours, the yeast started converting the sugars into alcohol:

All brewing ingredients--malt, hops, yeast--were purchased from Warehouse Beverage on Mayfield Road.

I'll blog again on this once I bottle the beer, and then again when I try it.

by Ben at2:16 PM under beer, recipe


June 17, 2008

Heights Eats

Heights Eats

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

I recently made Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins as one of my many avenues to use a 4 lb. container of fresh strawberries from Costco. I've entered these in the Strawberry Moon Festival Contest hosted by Cooking in Cleveland.

The whole family loved them, especially the strawberry flavor in both the batter and the strawberries.


1 1/2 cups (8-9 oz.) strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4-1 cup plain yogurt (or buttermilk, or sour cream)
1 egg
3-4 TB. melted butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Combine strawberries and sugar and let sit for at least one hour at room temperature (overnight or all day is even better).

2. Preheat oven to 400 degree and grease 14 muffin cups.

3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

4. Strain liquid from strawberries into a medium bowl; reserve strawberries. Add yogurt, egg and butter. Mix well.

5. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. You may have to add some additional yogurt or milk if you haven't let the strawberries sit for very long. Stir in chocolate chips and reserved strawberries.

6. Scoop batter into muffin cups and bake for 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.


Combining the sugar and strawberries gives you an excellent syrup to flavor the muffins and concentrates the flavor of the remaining strawberries. They actually shrink to about 1/3 of their original size if you let them sit for long enough.

Next time I might substitute whole wheat flour for some of the white flour, and even more strawberries probably wouldn't hurt either.

My other uses for the strawberries were Bon Appetit's Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream and David Lebovitz's Strawberry Sorbet, both of which turned out really well.

by Ben at11:51 PM under kid approved, low fat, muffins, recipe, recipe review


June 4, 2008

Heights Eats

Heights Eats

Homemade Vanilla Creamer

Sarah and I have been trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup, and non-dairy creamer is loaded with it. So I devised a recipe that tastes quite a bit like commercial vanilla creamers but is actually a lot better as it uses real cream and a vanilla bean.

Vanilla Creamer
(makes about a quart)

3 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Place the milk and sugar in a medium saucepan. Cut the vanilla bean down the middle and, with a paring knife, scrape the seeds into the milk, then add the pod to the pan.

Turn the heat to medium high, and stir after a few minutes to dissolve the sugar. Heat until boiling, then reduce heat to medium and boil for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and cool for at least 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally so a film doesn't form.

Refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours to allow the vanilla pod flavor to permeate the creamer. Add the cream and strain into a bottle. The vanilla seeds will go through the strainer, which is a good thing as they'll keep instensifying the flavor of the creamer over the first day or two in the fridge. You may need to shake before serving in case of separation. This stays good for weeks as it's preserved by the sugar and the re-pasteurization process of boiling the milk.


If you want to simplify this (it probably won't be quite as good, but still better than storebought) you can simply shake together the first three ingredients along with a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract. In this case, the flavor will definitely take at least a day to come through, i.e. for the vanilla flavor to permeate. You can also subsitute half and half for the mixture of milk and cream, but the creamer won't be quite as rich.

Feel free to reduce the sugar if you'd like. Even in this recipe, the sweetener content is 1/3 less than in commercial creamers, but it still tastes just as sweet (if not more so).


Bonus Recipe

This makes very good White Russians when combined with equal parts espresso (or very strong coffee) and vodka.

by Ben at1:30 PM under recipe


August 21, 2008

Heights Eats

Heights Eats

Chicken with Roasted Coriander in a Coconut Curry


I recently took a class at Viking Cooking School at Legacy Village called "Indian Feast." Everything we made was good, and I learned a number of techniques including peeling ginger, making samosas and some basic knife skills. While all the dishes were good, my favorite was Chicken with Roasted Coriander in a Coconut Curry (Dakshini Murgh). The fragrance of th e coriander (almost 1/4 cup of seeds!) is wonderful, and the finished dish is rich, flavorful and satisfying. Even Jonathan liked it, although I made his serving without the final addition of the chili peppers.


Chicken with Roasted Coriander in a Coconut Curry (Dakshini Murgh)

(adapted by the Viking Range Corporation from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery)

3 tbsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp black peppercorns
6 TB. (3/8 cup) canola oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 cinnamon stick
1 1/2 lb. (or slightly more) boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 medium onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced to half-rings
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp grated ginger
1 small tomato, finely chopped (a bit of tomato paste or puree works, too)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
juice of half a lemon
1 (14 oz.) can unhomogenized coconut milk, thick cream removed and reserved


1. Heat a small cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the coriander, fenugreek and peppercorns; cook, stirring constantly, until aroma is released and they begin to brown, about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove and cool spices slightly, then grind in a spice grinder.

2. Heat a casserole or saute pan over medium-high heat; add the oil and heat through. Toss in the black mustard seeds and cinnamon stick; when the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the chicken pieces in three batches, being careful not to overcrowd. Transfer browned chicken to a plate and set aside.

3. Return the pan to medium high heat; add the onions and cook until beginning to brown, then add the garlic and cook a minute or two.

4. Add the ginger and tomatoes (or paste) and cook until soft, stiffing often. Reduce the heat and add the roasted spice mixture, turmeric, cayenne, salt and lemon juice.

5. Pour the liquid from the can of coconut milk into the pan and set aside the coconut cream. Add the chicken back the pan, then add enough water to fill the can and add to the pan. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes.

6. When the chicken is cooked through, stir in the reserved coconut craem and the green chiles; stir once or twice as the cream warms through. Remove from the heat and serve with rice, chapatis and/or naan.


Some of the spices in this recipe can be hard to find. I got mine at Indo-American Foods on Warrensville, which sells all of them for very good prices.

One group of students in my class made a vegetarian version of this dish using zuchinni and, I think, peppers, with less oil. While I think a very good vegetarian version could be made, zucchini is not a satisfying chicken thigh substitute. I'd recommend using tempeh (and browning it in the full 6 TB. of oil), as it has an earthy flavor that would be a good counterpoint to the sauce.

by Ben at3:19 PM under class, event review, kid approved, recipe, viking cooking school