Scalloped Potatoes

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This is a recipe for a large dinner party. We had 12 for dinner, actually 15 with late comers, and almost all was eaten.


5 pounds of yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced rather thinly,

about 1/8th inch thick.
1 stick of butter, diced up into little bits
salt and pepper
3 - 4 cups of half and half
cheese, like Gruyère or Ementhal or Jarlsberg


Preheat the oven to 330 degrees (my oven will not go to 325).
Get a big baking dish, I got mine at IKEA, and butter the dish.
When the potatoes are done being sliced, after each potato, place the slices into cold water.
Then when all sliced, drain off as much of the water you can and pat them dry a bit.
Don't get too carried away with the drying, I actually put mine in the salad spinner a bit at a time.
Then as you've got some dried start working on arranging the potatoes artistically in the dish, in concentric circles. After each layer, put some dabs of butter over the potatoes, and some salt and pepper.
It used my micro-plane to shred a little cheese over the potatoes between layers. This was not a lot of cheese, just some.

Don't put cheese on the top of the last layer of potatoes, leave that for later.
When all the potatoes are in the dish, pour in the cream, and place in the oven for 70 minutes.
Then, turn the heat up to about 375 and cook for another 15 minutes or so, adding some cheese to the top layer. You do want to check the potatoes for doneness. This is not an exact science.
Serve immediately.

French Chocolate Cake

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I first made this cake because Emily had tried to help me with bringing in the groceries, and she chose help carry the eggs. Five eggs were broken by the time I got to her. They were cracked, rather than smashed, so I put the broken ones in a bowl.

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, softened
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

8 ounces of flour (scant 2 cups)
2 ounces of cocoa (1/2 cup)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup sour cream


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Grease and flour 1 large, or 2 small bundt pans.
If you like, you can also use either 2 8" or 2 9" or 3 7" pans. When using the flat pans, you'll want to paper the bottoms of the pans.

Cream the butter and sugar. Then add the eggs, and beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla.
Combine the dry ingredients, and put them through a sieve or strainer to make sure all the lumps are out.
On low speed, mix in the dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream.
Spoon the batter into the pans, and gently level it out.
Bake until a tooth pick comes out clean. It will look rather moist, but that's okay.

I served this with ice cream.

Smashed Potatoes

These were a really big hit.



5 pounds of russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon corse salt

2/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 + cup of cream
2 green onions, finely diced
fleur de sel
pepper

Put the potatoes into a pot and cover with cold water, add the corse salt, and bring to a boil and boil until the potatoes are done. I check by sticking a pointy knife into a potato. If the knife goes in easily then the potatoes are done.

Using a large slotted ladle, lift the potatoes out and place into a large flat-bottomed dish that you want to serve the potatoes in. Now understandably you might not have such a dish. So maybe then you can put them into a large pot. The reason for the flat-bottom is to make it easy to smash the potatoes.

Put in the butter first, and using a potato masher, smash a bit to start the butter melting. Add the rest of the ingredients and gently smash until nicely mixed. You do not want to make "creamed" potatoes, they need to still have a bit of texture. Taste for salt and pepper, adjusting as necessary.

Chocolate Pear Tarte

Note: This is a completely unfinished recipe. I know what it should be, and I'll be getting around to it one of these days.

This recipe came about on accident, but it really turned out nicely. I was making cookies invented by Pierre Herme, my favorite dessert chef. But I was making the cookies with Emily under my left arm, as she was being so much trouble, and was into absolutely everything - dragging chairs about, sticking her hands into whatever she could get her hands on. It was for a Tuesday with Dorie project. I got the dough made, and the rolled it into two rolls like I was supposed to, and put it into the refrigerator to chill for 3 hours. Well eventually, not necessarily that day, I got one of the rolls out to slice up and cook. All the dough would do was crumple. I eventually cooked up a few very crumbled up bits, but I was quite discouraged, and left the rest of the dough sitting on the cutting board. Eventually daughter #1 and her son Christian showed up and they made light work of that remaining dough. Well the next day while thinking about the cookie dough problem it struck me that I better look at the recipe. Well sure enough I had omited 1/3 of the needed butter. At that I didn't give the dough any more thought.

On the following Wednesday Riley had requested that I arrange to have a small dessert soiree for our house group. It was all a bit overwhealming to me, but I began by making up the batter for a chocolate cake, putting part into mini cupcakes, and the rest into a five inch springform pan. Next I thought maybe I would make a pear tart, and I went to the refrigerator to find the needed ingredients. There, on top of the egg carton, was the remaining chocolate cookie dough, and immediately I decided to use it for the crust of the pear tart. I turned on the oven, selected a tart dish, and the put the dough into the cuisanart, and processed it into a crumbly mixture and poured it into the tart dish, smoothed it out, patted it down, and put it into the oven for about 12 minutes.

Wednesday Brownies

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This recipe came about as I was in a big hurry to get a dessert made before our church group came in just over an hour.  So of course when you are in a hurry mistakes happen.  But you just keep going, adjusting the mistakes.  

1 stick of butter

8 ounces of dark chocolate chips

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

2 Tbls dark chocolate cocoa

2 eggs

2 Tbls brandy

1 tsp vanilla

a pinch of salt

as many chopped pecans as you'd like

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put a piece of parchment paper into an 8 inch square pan, with the paper sticking up above the edges.

Put the butter chips and sugar into a microwave proof bowl, and process for about 1 1/2 minutes in the microwave.  Remove from the microwave and give it a vigorous stir with a wooden spoon.

Mix the flour, cocoa, and salt and stir into the mixture.

Stir in the eggs, one at a time.

Add the brandy and vanilla.

Finally, stir in the pecans.

Pour the batter into the pan, spread around to level.

Bake for about 30 minutes.

I cut this into 36 pieces, but that makes for 1 1/4 square pieces.

Russian Peas and Carrots

8 oz carrots, in 2 inch long julienned strips
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons sugar
water to barely cover the carrots
a pinch of salt

6 oz frozen peas in a microwavable dish
some water in the dish, not to cover

1 tbl flour
salt and pepper to taste

Put the carrots into a frying pan with a lid.
Add the next 4 ingredients and cover and cook on medium heat until the carrots are just au dent.
Meanwhile, put the peas in the microwave and heat about 2 minutes.
Strain the liquid off the carrots into a small saucepan.
Strain the liquid from the peas into a small dish to reserve and put the peas in with the carrots.
Heat the carrot liquid and stir in the flour, adding enough of the peas liquid to make a nice sauce.
Pour the sauce over the vegies, and keep warm until time to serve. Covering the pan will probably suffice.

I went to get a picture of this, from the left-overs, but I was too late. A daughter had put all the leftovers together in a dish, and the peas and carrots were at the bottom. I'll have to get a picture later.

Annie's Saint Lucia Buns

Annie made these Lucia Buns for us on Saint Lucia Day - that's today. But she did have to start them yesterday. They were really delicious. One of the details I came up with in the end to take care of a little hitch in the kit-along. Annie started making these at about 11:45 at night. I know this because while I was rather soundly sleeping I began hearing the sound of someone slowly approaching the third floor, and then slowing approaching the bed. Now because I know Annie, I suspected that it was her in search of some ingredient she couldn't find. Luckily Riley did not panic, because he can really come flying out of bed when he's asleep and thinks someone is threatening him. She couldn't find the saffron. So I told her where I thought it was, and that was the last we heard of her. I would highly recommend starting the buns earlier than midnight.

So early in the evening of the day before you want the buns in the morning get started. Then, after the dough has risen once, form the buns, cover them with a dampish tea towel, and leave to rise over night. This works well in our house in the winter, as it gets very cold at night - a bit like a refrigerator.

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
4 crushed cardamon pods

Put into a glass dish for about 50 seconds. Then let sit to melt the butter. Remove the cardamon pods and add:

1 tablespoon yeast
2 teaspoons sugar

Stir just a bit, and leave for about 5 minutes to proof.
Mix the yeast mixture and the milk mixture with:

1 scant pound of flour

Knead until it is not sticky, and then leave to rise for about an hour or so.

Mix mix together:

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp ground cardamon

Then add this mixture to the risen dough.
At this point you can form the dough into the lucia buns.
There are many shapes that you can chose from.
Put them on parchment paper on trays, cover with damp tea towels and leave to rise over-night.

In the morning heat the oven to 450 degrees.
Make an egg wash with 1 egg yolk and a dab of water, and brush onto the risen buns.
Sprinkle with some perl sugar if you like, and if you have some.
And if you like put on some raisins. Annie mistook dried cherries for raisins, and that was tasty.
Bake for 7-8 minutes. It all depends on how big your buns are.

frosting:

1 egg white
1/4 cup sugar

Beat with an electric mixer until very white and foamy.
Brush onto the buns as desired.

Sweet Peppery Carrots

As a child my mother always served carrots that she called pennies. They were cut like fat pennies, maybe 1/3 in in thickness. Then my mother cooked them to a soft stage. I ate them, but I didn't like them. They were carrots at their worst in my opinion. I've never for any reason cut a carrot to look like a penny, and for years I only served carrots raw or in soup.

But then one year I got the idea to cook julienned carrots and saute them in butter, brown sugar and pepper. It was a big hit with the family, and has been part of our thanksgiving tradition ever since. This recipe is not about certain quantities, but about the end result.

carrots, peeled and cut into about 2 - 3 inch julienned strips
salt
butter
brown sugar
coarse pepper

After the carrots are cut up I steam them with a steamer device or you can cook them in a small amount of lightly salted water in a saute pan. This is not about boiling the carrots, but about just enough cooking to get them to the au dent stage. Keep a close watch on the carrots. They do not want to come to the soft stage. If they're a little too au dent that's okay, because they will be cooked a bit more later. As soon as the carrots are cooked, run cold water over them to stop the cooking.

If I'm making these for Thanksgiving I do it the day before, get the carrots cooked and then put them in a bowl a cover them and put them in the refrigerator.  But refrigerating or not, it is important to get the carrots well drained, as you don't want to add water to the butter and sugar mix, it will be too thin to stick to the carrots.

When shortly before time to serve this dish, put a nice big nob of butter in a saute pan, add also a punch of coarse pepper and a bunch of brown sugar. This is all about how peppery and how sweet you want the carrots. Get it all melted and then toss in the carrots. At this point you can adjust things as you like. It's kind of like making candied sweet potatoes. You just play it by ear. Cook until the carrots are a nice degree of warmth to serve for dinner.

Gugelhopf Bread Pudding

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After making the kugelhopf for Tuesday with Dorie, we had half left the next day. It does get stale, but it seemed perfect for a bread pudding.

1/2 a kugelhopf that was made with 1/2 pound of flour
some raisins, or any dried fruit you like
some almonds

5 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk - whole if you have it
scant 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
scant 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
scant 1/2 cup sugar


Get a nice little baking dish, about 6 cups in size.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Break up the kugelhopf into the dish, and sprinkle on raisins and almonds.
In a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients with a whisk, and pour slowly over the bread.
Push the sticking up bits down into the egg mixture.
Sprinkle the top with coarse sugar if you like.
Bake for 45 minutes.

Chicken Pot Pies

makes about 8

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 14 ounce can of chicken stock
3 cups (about) of homemade chicken stock that has been reduced and defatted *
3 cups (about) of diced left-over chicken*
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced small
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced rather small
6 white mushrooms, sliced up rather thin
1/2 cup frozen peas
French herb mix, about 1 teaspoon
salt and pepper
1 package puff pastry, cut into 8 squares big enough to top the chosen baking dishes
1 egg + 1 tsp water for egg wash

8 8-10 ounce ramekins or other appropriately sized dishes that can go into the oven

* The chicken and chicken stock

The other day I made roast chicken for dinner. I had stuffed it with chopped carrots and onion. The vegies didn't cook, but after dinner, I pulled all the left-over meat off the chicken, then I put the carcus and vegies into a pot and added a bunch of water, not enough to quite cover the chicken. I put on the lid and cooked for a while. Then I took off the lid and smushed down the chicken into the water, and cooked the whole lot for a while more. When it all looked quite cooked, with the bones all falling apart, I put the whole thing through a strainer - the cone shaped kind. I put the strained liquid back into the pot and cooked it a while longer to reduce it. Then I put it into a bowl and then into the refrigerator. When it was all cooled down the chicken fat was nice and solid on the top, and I scooped it off - saving it, as it was lovely rendered chicken fat. It was this remainder that I used in the pot pies - it was probably about 3 cups, but I didn't measure it.

making the filling

So for the filling for the pies I got a large saucier, melted the stick of butter and added the onions. I cooked those for a while, until the onions seemed tender, and then I added the flour, and cooked that for about 2 minutes. Then I quickly whisked in the chicken broths, stirring vigorously to make sure there were no lumps. I then added the carrots. With hind sight, I think that I would have put the carrots in a bowl with a bit of water, cover them with plastic wrap, and cooked them for a couple minutes in the microwave, as it took them a while before they were cooked. So when the carrots seemed well on their way to being cooked, I added the potatoes. These I then cooked for about 10 minutes. then I added the chicken, mushrooms and peas and simmer the whole thing for about 5 minutes.

assembly

I had preheated my gas oven to 400 degrees. The filling that I made would probably fill 8 pies, but I only made 4. I used 10 oz. soufflé dishes. These are big enough for a dinner for a man. I did not eat all of mine, and I think maybe a 6 oz dish would have been enough. But anyway, I filled the dishes. Got my puff pastry squares cut to size and brushed then with egg wash, and press them down onto the dishes. Then I baked them for 20 minutes.



For more on this recipe, go to Molly Loves Paris.

spicy cole slaw

I love cole slaw the way I make it, but I'm not so fond a many of the commercial kinds that are so heavy on the sauce. I've never actually measured anything for cole slaw, but here's the list of ingredients.

1/2 cabbage, sliced thin, but not paper thin, and cut to manageable getting into your mouth length
mayonnaise, maybe three tablespoons
buttermilk or sour cream - about 2 tablespoons
sugar, about 1 tablespoon
salsa - maybe 1 tablespoon - I use medium or hot Emerald Valley salsa
salt and pepper
rice wine vinegar - maybe 2 tablespoons
1 green onion, sliced and diced - make the bits small
1 or 2 ripe, but firm avocado(s), diced up.




I make the sauce in the bowl that the salad will be served in before I add the cabbage.
First put in a nice big dollop of mayonnaise and thin a bit with buttermilk or sour cream.
The buttermilk is to add something that has less calories than mayonnaise,
and to make it so that the dressing doesn't glomp onto the cabbage.
Then stir in the sugar and salsa and salt and pepper.
Finally stir in some rice wine vinegar, maybe using a small whisk.
Taste and adjust to your taste.
When the dressing tastes right, I stir in the green onion.
Then stir in the cabbage. It takes a lot of tossing to get it well coated.
If you find that you have more dressing than needed, then slice up some more cabbage if you have it and stir in.
Or put the cabbage into a big seive, and let the excess dressing drain off.
This is not a soup, but I know that excess can happen.
Then finally, stir in the avocado.

note: I know that just about everyone in the whole world who makes cole slaw adds carrots. I don't.

And ... if you'd like you can make up the dressing in a different bowl or pitcher, and pour on as needed.

Almond Carrot Cake

I love almonds, but I've not been so fond of carrot cake.  This is because it's heavy and rich.  I especially dislike cream cheese frosting.  But this cake is quite different.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour a pan of your choice.  I put mine into two small bundt pans.  Since it was such a good fit, I would say that you can also use one large bundt pan, or tube pan, or maybe a loaf pan.

1/2 pound of carrots - this is two or three, or 225 grams, there's no exact science here, peeled and cut into chunks

50 grams of blanched almonds, about 1/2 cup

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extact

2 cups flour - 9 ounces

1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Put the carrots and the almonds into the food processor and process until nice and fine.

You can also throw in some dried cherries or raisins if you like.

In a mixing bowl cream the sugar, butter, and eggs.  Add the extracts.

Mix in the carrots and almonds.

Combine the dry ingredients and mix in.

Put the mixture into the desired conveyances and cook until done.  In the small bundt pans this should be about 35 minutes.  And in a large bundt I would guess about 45 minutes.  Make sure that the cake springs back when gently prodded.  

Let cool for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.