Monthly Archives: August 2009

Chocolate Cookies with Coconut

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Choc_cookiesRemember these cookies? At the time, I was thinking of all sorts of variations besides lime and cocoa nibs. It took me a few months, but I finally got around to trying a couple of different combinations.

The first combination I tried was chocolate with coconut. I made the basic cookie dough recipe, but left out the lime zest and cocoa nibs. After scooping out the balls of dough, I flattened them slightly and topped each with a mixture of sweetened flaked coconut and sweetened condensed milk. I refrigerated the dough for about a half an hour before baking them. These cookies flattened out a bit more than the original, but they were very good. Chocolate and coconut is a classic combination, and it was hard not to eat the whole batch in one sitting. The only thing I would change next time would be to toast the coconut first.

The second combination was chocolate, walnut and cinnamon. Again, I made the basic recipe, leaving out the lime zest and cocoa nibs. I added about 3/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a cup of chopped walnuts to the dough, then scooped and baked the cookies normally. These cookies were okay, but I thought the cinnamon flavor was too faint. Next time, I’ll increase the cinnamon to a full teaspoon.

Another combination I’d really like to try is chocolate chip with chipotle powder.

Chocolate Whipped Cream Cake and Chocolate Pudding

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Currently cooking from Tasty by Roy Finamore

Here’s the story of the dessert that almost wasn’t . . .

Once upon a time, I offered to provide dinner (with dessert, of course) to Bryan’s niece who just had a baby. Along with a huge pan of lasagna, I planned on wowing her with Finamore’s Chocolate Whipped Cream Cake filled with whipped cream and raspberries. It is elegant, but simple (and very pretty, judging by the picture in Tasty).

choc_cakeAs I was reading through the ingredient list, something caught my eye. The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of baking soda. Now, according to author Shirley O. Corriher (in her most recent book, Bakewise, she talks about how baking soda/baking powder works and the proper proportions one should use), 2 teaspoons of baking soda is the amount of leavening needed for 8 cups of flour. This recipe has less than 2 cups. So, I anticipated that the cakes would fall, and in the recipe, Finamore says that the cakes will fall a little. Uh, yeah. Take another look at that picture. I’d say my cakes fell *a little*.

So, with visions of a perfect black and white cake crumpling around me, I decided to turn the cake (which tasted fine, by the way) into a chocolate trifle by making Finamore’s version of chocolate pudding (and knocking out another recipe while I was at it).

Fortunately, the chocolate pudding recipe is pretty straightforward. You whisk together, egg yolks, cornstarch and unsweetened cocoa. You temper this with hot milk/cream, then the whole thing goes back on the stovetop to cook. Once it has come to a boil, you take it off the heat and stir in bittersweet chocolate, butter and some vanilla.

I wondered about the lack of sugar in the recipe, but figured that the bittersweet chocolate would provide the sweetening. Wrong! The dry bitterness of the cocoa powder came through loud and clear. Fortunately, the pudding was still liquidy and hot enough that I was able to stir in about 1/4 cup of sugar with no problems (I halved the recipe, so if making a full recipe, you’d need more sugar).

In the end, I got my chocolate trifle and it tasted fine, but I’m sorely disappointed in Finamore. I can’t believe that these two recipes passed muster as is. I did a quick search to see if there had been any corrections posted, but I didn’t find anything. The fix for the chocolate pudding is easy. I’d dissolve 1/2 to 2/3 cup of sugar in the milk/cream mixture as it is heating. For the chocolate cake, I’d reduce the baking soda down to 1/2 teaspoon or use 1 teaspoon baking powder along with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.choc_trifle

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

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oreo_cupcakeI haven’t been doing much baking lately because it has been too hot. But we’ve cooled down over the last couple of days, and I started feeling the baking itch. During my internet surfing, I came across this recipe from the Food and Wine Magazine website. It looked pretty easy and I had all the ingredients, except for the Oreo cookies.

I followed the directions for the cupcakes as posted, but I made my own frosting. I wanted something that would let the flavor of the Oreo cookies come through, but that wasn’t super sweet. I ended up whipping about a cup of whipping cream with a tablespoon or so of powdered sugar. Once the cream was whipped, I folded in some crushed Oreos.

The cake part of these cupcakes was really soft and moist. The cupcakes fell a bit, though (next time I’ll reduce the baking soda to 1/2 teaspoon). The whipped cream softens the cookie pieces, and the whole thing melds together very nicely.

Beer and Molasses Flank Steak

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beer_molasses_flankCurrently cooking from Tasty by Roy Finamore

Who would have thought that a marinade that contains a lot of beer might make the meat taste like beer? Duh! Apparently not me. Neither Bryan nor I like the taste of beer, so after a few bites of this steak, we politely pushed it aside and concentrated on our roasted broccoli instead.

I might have mentioned here a time or two that Bryan and I eat a lot of flank steak. Besides being pretty inexpensive, this cut of meat is quick cooking and takes well to just about any marinade. You can grill it, broil it or cook it on the stovetop, and the leftovers reheat well.

Finamore’s marinade contains a bottle of beer, molasses, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, ginger and hot peppers. I left out the hot peppers and ginger, mostly because I forgot to buy them at the grocery store. I let the meat marinate for about 4 hours before grilling it. If you like beer, you’ll probably like this marinade, since that was about all I could taste.

Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp v2

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bacon_shrimpCurrently cooking from Tasty by Roy Finamore

I couldn’t admit that I had gotten smacked down by some shrimp and bacon, so I was determined to give this recipe another go, with a few modifications.

This time around, I used jumbo shrimp so it was easier to wrap the bacon around and secure everything together. I also cut almost all of the fat off the bacon, since it was the bacon fat that caused the 2′ flames last time. And lastly, I grilled these puppies more on indirect heat and without closing the grill lid (and obsessively moving the skewers any time I detected a flare-up).

In the end, the shrimp were just okay. We actually preferred the smaller shrimp to these big ones and I seriously overcooked the shrimp while trying to get the bacon done. I think I’ll leave this dish to the pros.

Fettuccine with Corn and Tomatoes

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fettuccine_corn_tomCurrently cooking from Tasty by Roy Finamore

So far, this is my favorite recipe from Tasty. It was quick and delicious and takes advantage of all the wonderful summer produce that’s available.

You start out by cutting the kernels off of three ears of corn and sauteing them in some butter. Once the corn is cooked, you add diced, fresh tomatoes and cream and cook until the cream is reduced by half. To this sauce, you add cooked fettuccine and some fresh basil and parmesan. Easy and satisfying.

Well, mostly satisfying. You see, both Bryan and I wanted some sort of protein with it and we wanted to cut down on the amount of cream. So a couple of days later, I took another stab at this recipe, modifying it a bit.

In my version, the dish starts off by browning small chunks of chicken (I used one breast that I cut into 1/2″ pieces). Once the chicken was browned, I moved it to a plate and added some diced onion to the pan. I sauteed the onion until it was soft and then added the corn, which I cooked for about 6 minutes. I deglazed the pan with chicken broth (about 1/2 of a can) and a splash of white wine and reduced the liquid by about half. Finally, I stirred in about 2 tablespoons of cream to finish off the sauce.

My version was much less rich than the original, but it was full of flavor and satisfying, and, I hope, a little better for us since I plan to make this dish for as long as I can get good corn and tomatoes.

English Muffins

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english_muffinsCurrently cooking from Tasty by Roy Finamore

Why make English muffins? Well, why not? I had the ingredients (flour, yeast, salt and water) and instead of heating up the house with the oven, these little babies get cooked on a cast-iron griddle on the stovetop.

english_muffins2The simple dough is mixed up and left to rest overnight in the fridge. The next day, the dough is divided into 10 pieces, rolled into balls and flattened and left to rise until almost double. The dough is then cooked (I used my electric griddle) for 8-10 minutes per side. Presto! English muffins.

These were really, really good, especially toasted and spread with butter and jam. Next time I make these, I’ll divide the dough into smaller balls (12, maybe, instead of 10) since some of my muffins were pretty big. Also, during the cooking, you are supposed to press down the dough to flatten it. My English muffins were very, very flat, so next time, I won’t press them as hard.

Basic White Beans

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beansCurrently cooking from Tasty by Roy Finamore

This is a simple side dish, albeit one that takes four hours of simmering on the stovetop. The beans (I used great northern beans) are cooked until tender with an onion, a couple of whole cloves, a couple of carrots, a stalk of celery, some rosemary and a bay leaf. If you have any parmesan rinds, you can also throw one of those in. Finamore doesn’t have you soak the beans first; he says the texture is better without soaking. I just liked that I didn’t have to plan too far in advance to make these.

As a side dish, these are, well, beans. Straightforward and simple. The cloves add an unusual flavor that I thought was okay, but Bryan didn’t really like. Finamore gets some mileage out of this recipe, using the beans to make a soup and a baked pasta dish. He also says the beans freeze really well.

Simple Pork Tenderloin

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pork_tenderloin2Currently cooking from Tasty by Roy Finamore

Pork tenderloin is so easy to cook, but it can end up bland and boring, so I’m always looking for ways to spice it up. In this recipe, Finamore has you spread a mixture of Dijon mustard and herbs over a tenderloin before rolling the meat in bread crumbs. The meat is then browned on the stovetop before getting baked in the oven until done.

Easy, right? The only problem I had was that the bread crumbs didn’t stay on the tenderloin while I was browning it, and I ended up with meat that looked like it had a skin disease. It tasted great, though, and was moist and tender. This makes a great weekday meal and the leftovers are equally as good.

Chicken and Rice Casserole

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chick_riceFor more than eight months, this recipe has been sitting in my “to try” pile. But instead of making it during the dark, cold days of winter when we craved comfort food, I had to wait until the hottest week of summer, in a house with no air conditioning. There’s something wrong with me, I know.

This dish is good. Like warm and comforting in the best way possible good. And it’s even better if you eat it with peas, and I’m not just saying that because I eat peas with everything. The recipe comes from one of my favorite food blogs, Simply Recipes. The recipe is here.

This casserole starts out by browning chicken thighs, onions and mushrooms. The pan is then deglazed with sherry (or chicken stock or water), everything is mixed together, along with rice, sour cream and cream, and finished in the oven.

Except for some chopping and sauteing at the beginning, this dish is pretty easy, but yields spectacular results. It isn’t the least bit greasy and is very filling. It is quite rich, hence the peas. I suppose most vegetables would work here.

I only made minor changes, such as using bone-in chicken thighs and reducing the amount of salt. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt to be added to the baking dish. I used 1 teaspoon of salt and it was almost too salty. Next time, I’ll reduce the amount of salt to 1/2 teaspoon.